William Hayner Browning, M.D.

Browning M.D., William Hayner, a retired physician and surgeon, died Sunday, January 15, 2012. He was 95 years old. He was born April 13, 1916 at the ranch home of his parents west of Madison in the Flint Hills of Greenwood County. He was the only child of William Patterson Browning and Sue Hayner Browning. His education for six years was in the Dist. 14 one room stone schoolhouse. Later primary education was in schools in Johnson County where the family moved in 1927 to the old stone “Mahaffie House,” built in 1865 and used as a stagecoach stop along the Santa Fe Trail; it is now preserved as a public historic site by the City of Olathe. His college education was at William Jewell College where he was in the Sigma Nu fraternity and served as its president for two years. His medical degree was from Kansas University. This was followed by a three year Fellowship in Urology at the Mayo Clinic. He served as a Captain in the US Army in WW II and saw duty overseas in the China Burma India theater. He is survived by his wife Peggy Lou Roberts Browning whom he married in 1943 and by their four children: Dr. William Roberts (Jennifer) Browning, Mary Susan (Stefano) Pogany, Patricia Hayner (David) Berner, Anne Browning (John) Wilson, and by nine grandchildren and two great grandchildren. Dr. and Mrs. Browning came to Wichita in 1949 when he began the practice of Urologic Medicine and Surgery. He was one of three founders of The Wichita Urology Group in which he practiced until his retirement in 1982. Thereafter, operating the family ranch kept him occupied, and he also volunteered for Hospice and assisting young readers in grade school. He and his wife had developed an interest in old lamps, early lighting devices, and the history of lighting. They began to look for and acquire such items as they traveled. In 2001, their collection of “pre-kerosene” lighting devices was given to the Clendenning Library of the University of Kansas School of Medicine. He published medical articles during his medical career, and in his retirement, writing became his central interest. His subject matter ranged from family history and local rural life to matters of daily living. His book, Sins of the Fathers, published in 2008, was a plea for humankind to love one another just as they had been advised to do two thousand years earlier. A memorial service will be held Saturday, January 21 at 2 p.m. at the Larksfield Place Auditorium, 7373 E. 29th St. N., Wichita, KS 67226. Memorials in lieu of flowers may be sent to Botanica, The Wichita Gardens, 701 Amidon, Wichita, KS, 67203. Downing Lahey Mortuary East.