Dr. Wade Oberlin Brinker

Wade Oberlin Brinker, DVM Okemos Age 95, died August 7, 2008; born October 11, 1912 in Fulton, Ohio. Dr. Brinker graduated from Kansas State University, receiving his Doctor of Veterinarian Medicine Degree and married Eleanor Bayles in May 1939. He served in the U.S. Army during WWII. After being discharged from the Army he joined the MSU Veterinary Medicine Department. He pioneered new techniques in the field of Veterinarian Orthopedic surgery. He was a forerunner of international internal fixation. He was the founder of the Veterinary Orthopedic Society and was formerly the President of the International Veterinary Orthopedic Society. After retiring from MSU he worked at Tuskegee University in Alabama. Dr. Brinker was a longtime member of Okemos Community Church and a member of the Michigan Veterinary Association and American Veterinary Association. He enjoyed summers on Manitoulin Island, Ontario, Canada and loved hunting and fishing. He was preceded in death by his wife, Eleanor in 2000. Surviving are his daughter, Judith A. (John) Lonsway; sons, Gerald O. "Jerry" (Sandra) Brinker and Jack W. (Nancy) Brinker; 6 grandchildren, Timothy (Shellie) Brinker, Todd (Janice) Brinker, John (Marta) Lonsway, Jay (Tammie) Lonsway, Laura Brinker, Danielle Brinker; 7 great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews. Funeral services will be held Tuesday, August 12, at Noon at the Okemos Community Church, 4734 Okemos Road, Okemos with the Rev. Jeanne Randels, officiating. Interment will follow in East Lawn Memory Gardens, Okemos. The family will receive friends at the Gorsline Runciman Funeral Homes, 1730 E. Grand River Avenue, East Lansing, Monday from 2-4 and 6-8 p.m. and Tuesday at the Church 1 hour prior to the service. In lieu of flowers, those desiring may make contributions to MSU Wade Brinker Chair A60003, MSU College of Veterinary Medicine, F130 Vet Med Center, East Lansing, MI 48824-1314 in memory of Dr. Brinker.