Dr. Joe Reneau

This remarkable life story is being shared by daughter, Kathy Lorenzi.

“Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief, basketball coach…” was the lead-into a wonderful article about Dr. Joe by George Breazeale in the Austin American Statesman March 1969. No description could be more accurately applied to a man who lived through some very important years in the history of Austin, Texas. From a personal standpoint, his family and friends can easily suggest adding to the list of Doctor, mentor, leader, confidant and friend to countless numbers of people in Austin and the surrounding areas. Truthfully, lawyer is not one of Dr Joe’s many accomplishments.

Dr. Joe Reneau was born on a farm in Chilton, TX in Falls County north of Austin on January 31, 1932. He was called by God to join His team of Angels on Sunday, August 23, 2020.

At my request, his only daughter, Dad loved to tell stories of his early life at bedtime. For the first 12 years of his life I was told that he lived a Huck Finn type of life in the hills of Westlake (long before any development) hunting, fishing and doing other shenanigans young boys might get into roaming the wood. Many of these days were spent with his cousins and friends such as Floyd and Melvin Clearman and Coleman Baily.

When he was 12, his parents separated resulting in the need for his mother to move the family to town for employment and to join her extended family. As the move was quite sudden, the much-told, and somewhat infamous, story by Dr. Joe is that he returned home one day to find a note on the front door from his mother saying, “we have moved son, come and bring the cow.” The rest of that story will be left to your imagination as Dr. Joe was far from pleased with this turn of events and supposedly, the cow was cranky.

Being adaptable, he managed to make the best of life in East Austin, living with his mother and 4 sisters, working, making friends and attending school. He graduated from Austin High School in 1949.

In his early years, Dr. Joe worked at the Salvation Army (SA) doing various chores and coaching the SA’s sport teams. It should be noted that he was a remarkable athlete with a passion for basketball. His boss at the SA saw something in this young man and took him by the hand to enroll at The University of Texas at Austin (UT). From there, Dr. Joe became fascinated about the world around him and what one could accomplished if one worked hard enough. He graduated with a BS in Physical Education in 1956.

During the University days, while coaching a softball team for the SA, he noticed a cute young redhead who was playing on the opposing team. As he was coaching first base and she was playing first base, he took the opportunity of get to know her and found out her name to be Anna Lee Carlson. Even though they were on competing teams, he somehow convinced her to go out with him; the two were soon married in 1953. Dr. Joe always liked to say that he and Anna Lee met on First Base.

After University the happy couple with their young daughter, Kathy moved to a small west Texas town of Seminole where he was hired to teach health, counsel students and coach various sports. He soon became head basketball coach and lead his team to a great deal of success in District, Bi-District and State tournaments.

After 4 years in Seminole, Mom and Dad decided to start the journey on his dream/calling of being a medical doctor. The family moved to Denton to attend North Texas State for a summer and then moved to Austin to finish his pre-med studies at UT. Dad attended class full time, worked a part time job, and became the graduate assistant who coached the Longhorn’s freshman basketball team. With all his responsibilities, there was little time to study. As such, Dr. Joe’s grades were good but not considered anywhere close to the grades needed to get him admitted to medical school. When he approached one of his professors for a reference, Dr. Joe said the Professor laughed and said he was nuts for even attempting to apply to medical school but, after hearing his story, the Professor offered him a chance to prove himself in order to obtain the Professor’s letter of recommendation. The task was to take an intelligence type test that the Professor liked to use. He told Dad that he had 30 minutes to complete the test and his score would determine whether or not he won his reference letter. He also added that to date, no one had completed the test much less answered the questions 100% correctly. Well, Dad always liked a challenge and was determined to go to medical school so agreed to the conditions. Much to the Professor’s amazement, he not only finished the test but also answered all the questions correctly! Dad received a glowing reference from this Professor.

In 1960, the family moved to Galveston in late August on faith hoping that he would be accepted to the University of Texas Medical School. God must have known my Dad's potential as he was, miraculously, one of the last students accepted that year. Our family faced many trials and tribulations during the 4 years of medical school such as Anna being diagnosed with TB the first month after starting medical school. He was faced with the decision to quit school however, with the support of family, friends and a Professor who believed in him, he found the faith and resources to stay and graduated in 1965 in the top 1/3 of his class.

Our family returned to Austin so that Dr. Joe could do a rotating internship at Brackenridge Hospital. He completed his internship July 30, 1966 and took a job with the Brackenridge emergency room while he started to build his practice. First day on the job was August 1, 1966. On this infamous day, Charles Whitman shot 44 people from the Tower at the University. Whitman killed 14 people with 31 being sent to the Brackenridge ER that day. Dr. Joe was called in a panic by the ER and was put in charge of the triage for these victims. He later said “I thought I was in a war zone. We had 5 operating rooms on call, and as I examined the patients, I would send them to surgery as needed.”

In 1966, dad was approached by Stan Burnham of the University to be the team physician for the University’s athletic department. Dr. Burnham felt my dad was a natural for the job as he personally went from student athlete to coach to medical doctor. After meeting with Coach Royal and other members of the staff, he agreed to take the part time (?) job. The first year on the job saw the Longhorn football team experience a lot of injuries to the players. He worked closely with the Athletic department and the athletic trainers to find ways to reduce injuries, whether it was better made and fitted pads, to elbow and knee protection from the Astroturf, to better ways to beat the Texas summer heat, to head injury protocols. A lot of these improvements paid off as the next 3 years were considered the glory years of UT/Darrell Royal football including the 1969 national championship!

With regret, dad resigned as Team Doctor in 1972 to give full time to his own, very full private practice. However, he continued to support area high schools as team physician for several more years.

As teaching was also a calling for Dr. Joe, he took on the role as adjunct professor at the University teaching courses in Athletic Injuries and Communicable/Non-communicable Diseases. He considered the proudest moment of his teaching career as follows: “While teaching the UT Health class, I helped save an athlete's life. He was the leading shot putter in the nation at that time. He had gone to the UT Student Health Center the previous week and they sent him to his dorm saying he had a virus. [At the time] In my class I was covering the acute abdomen. The roommate of the shot putter was in my class. The roommate called me on Monday night saying the shot putter wasn't well and wondered if he might have the acute abdomen we discussed in class? I met them at the Health Center and called Dr. Robert Askew Sr. to examine him, we gave him 3 units of blood that night and operated on him at 7am the next morning. He had torn the splenic artery from the spleen and was bleeding internally. He recovered and thanked us for saving his life. He didn't have ‘just a virus.’ I'm thankful his roommate listened so carefully to my lecture, for he did save his friend's life."

Dr. Joe would write this..."I may be the only doctor in Texas to have graduated from UT as an under graduate, played basketball at UT, graduated with a Doctor's Degree from UT Medical School in Galveston, taught a course in Health at UT and was Team Physician for UT during "The Glory Years' from 1967-1972 with Darrell Royal."

One evening in 1969, a good friend, Harold Riley, called Dr. Joe. Mr. Riley was creating a new insurance company after much success leading another company. Mr. Riley asked Dr. Joe to be on the board of Directors and to be their Medical Director. Mr. Riley told dad that his picture was in every UT program and he was the most famous doctor in Texas so needed him in his company. Dad accepted and served as Medical Director for Citizens Insurance Company of America for 46 years until his retirement in 2015

He had a full and very busy medical practice in Northwest Austin for over 20 years. Dad was known by his peers throughout his career as a brilliant diagnostician.

In addition, he built 2 new medical clinics, first on Shoal Creek and then on Thunder Creek, and recruited a number of outstanding doctors to fill these clinics. From his start of practice in 1967, Dr. Joe had the vision of how northwest Austin would develop and he wanted quality medical care in the area for the growing numbers of people. He also established the first minor emergency center in Northwest Austin to treat patients at nights and on weekends.

Quality medical care was a passion for him and he spent many hours working with the American Medical Association, the American Occupational Medical Association, the Texas Medical Association, the American Academy of Family Practice and the Texas Academy of Family Practice including service on various Board of Directors, both locally and nationally, to improve the medical care in the lives of people. He was also the President of the Travis County Chapter of Texas Academy of Family Practice. Mom and I seldom saw dad with his dedication.

In 1972 Dr. Joe was approached by Dr. Bob Anderson at Brackenridge hospital to help him start Austin’s first family practice residency program. Dr. Joe chaired the organization committee for the first year and continued to support the program for many years thereafter.

Mom and Dad somehow made time for us to have a church based, faith filled life. When Dr. Joe married Anna Lee Carlson, he joined a family that were 3rd generation members of Hyde Park Baptist Church. He was honored to become a Deacon of the church in 1976. The family were regular participants in the church and its activities and Dr. Joe even held an impromptu clinic on many Sunday mornings after the service and Sunday school as many of the members of the church were his patients. Doctor Joe was a very competitive athlete who participated in various Hyde Park supported sports through his 50’s. Basketball, fast-pitch softball, tennis and golf. He won many team awards as his teams would compete in local and national tournaments. He went to the state fast-pitch softball tournament sponsored by churches across Texas on numerous occasions, both with his Hyde Park Baptist Church team and as an addition to other church teams.

To the disappointment of many patients and staff, Dr. Joe decided to leave practice in 1987 calling it “the hardest decision he ever made.” After many years of 16-hour days, he wanted to slow down a bit so that he could enjoy the company and activities of his 2 beloved young granddaughters, Amber and Heather, and travel and play golf with Anna Lee. It also allowed his “long suffering” but devoted receptionist for the whole 20 years, Margie Schoener, to retire.

Mom and Dad had a great time being with their family and traveling the country playing as many of the major golf courses they could. Dad loved it when Amber and Heather referred to him as Dr. Granddad. Dr. Joe and Anna Lee were each very successful during this period winning numerous golf tournaments. Dr. Joe’s favorite trophies were related to their winning local, state and national championships with the Oldsmobile Scramble and Fellowship of Christian Athletes golf tournaments.

In 1987 Dr. Joe joined Abbott Laboratories (now called Hospira) and IBM as their company physician. He loved these jobs as he got to practice medicine, apply his knowledge of occupational and sports medicine and be around good people. He constantly bragged about the great nurses that kept him in line during his office hours. Dr. Joe and the nurses stayed in touch after his retirement and until his death. They were as devoted to him as he was to them even writing testimonials about his influence in their lives and families after he became ill.

In 1998, tragedy struck our family as my mother was stricken with terminal colon cancer. Anna Lee, his precious wife and partner of 47 years, was taken by God to join his team of Angels in August 2000.

In the months that followed, Dr. Joe decided to sell his home and move into something smaller. He made contact with a well-known realtor named Dena Askew. She was petite, smart, beautiful and full of life. Dad said he recognized a good thing when he saw it and proceeded to try to win her heart. Dena was a little reluctant at first, but he can be very charming and persistent when he wanted. It was not long before he had Dena on his arm, teaching her to play golf and subjecting her to all the activities and sports of his granddaughters.

They liked to say that God placed them on a path for a life together for Dr. Joe Reneau and Dena were married in May of 2001 by his cousin and close friend, Don Duval. The two of them proceeded to live life to the fullest traveling, playing golf and being with family and friends for the next 19 years. They felt it was a marriage made in heaven until he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2016. Dena was by his side every moment of every day as the two of them fought to counteract the disease with everything in their power. Unfortunately, Alzheimer’s won the battle on Sunday, August 23, 2020. Dena and I were at his side and we felt he knew us and was comforted by our presence.

Dr. Joe Reneau is survived by his devoted wife Dena Scoggins Askew Reneau; his daughter Kathleen Reneau Lorenzi and her husband John Lorenzi; Jeff Askew and his wife Erin Askew; grandchildren Amber Lorenzi, Heather Lorenzi, Sean Askew, Shelby Askew and Parker Askew; and great grandson Tyson Kade Lorenzi; and sister and brother-in-law Rena and Billy Newman. Dr. Joe and Dena’s family recently grew to welcome Erin's sons, Justin and Brendan Kent. Dr. Joe is also survived by his sisters Anna Lee Chandler and husband Toby, Joyce Pugh, Jackie Mann and husband Wayne and many nieces and nephews.

Dr. Joe Reneau was preceded in death by his wife, Anna Lee Carlson Reneau, his sister Shirley Reneau Larson, Brother-in-law Orville Pugh spouse of Joyce Pugh, Father Jack Reneau and Mother Vera F. Schipper.

The family wishes to thank the staff at Arden Court Memory Care and Kindred Hospice for the tender loving care that they provided to Dr. Joe over his last few months. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Salvation Army and the Alzheimer’s Association.

Visitation will be held Thursday, August 27, 2020 from 5-7 PM at Cook-Walden Funeral Home on North Lamar. A Memorial Service will be performed at 12 noon on Friday, August 28th at Hyde Park Baptist Church with Dr. Kie Bowman and Reverend Dan Gardner officiating. The service will also be streamed on the Hyde Park website, HPBC.org. A private burial will be held at Cook-Walden/Capital Park with Reverend Dan Gardner Officiating.

A tribute to Dr. Joe by Jeff Askew on 25 August 2020 -

One of my heroes fell today. Dr. Joe Reneau passed away today. He never surrendered. He was my first doctor since before I could remember. A man who always made everything alright when I was sick or broken. He was always smiling and optimistic, always had a way to make things better, always wanted to help the people around him. He was a man of great faith in God and a man of science and medicine. An athlete and coach. A father and husband.

My own father was the greatest man I've ever known. He was the tip of the spear, a warrior at heart who taught me to be strong and stand up for what I believe in. He passed away too young, too soon, and never got to see his grandchildren grow up. Years after he passed away, Dr. Joe, who had lost his own wife to cancer, started courting my mother. He was good and honorable, always kind and unwavering in his honor and commitment to helping people. I don’t think I could have accepted any other man as my stepfather. He was that good. I've known him all my life. I can't imagine a kinder or gentler soul than him. If there was ever a truly good man it was Dr. Joe Reneau.

I've known him all my 50 years.

He was friends with my father and I'm sure my dad approved when he and my mother married 20 plus years ago. He's been a grandfather to my children. The patriarch of the family. He helped me with my problems my entire life so far, and his wisdom and kindness will stay with me the rest of my days. Rest in peace, Dr. Joe.

I'm proud to have been family to you. You taught me that attitude is everything. When I can’t control circumstances, or events, or the actions of others; I can control my attitude about it and choose to stay positive, optimistic, make good choices, and that prayer plus action will lead to positive outcomes.

He never stopped fighting. Even in his passing death struggled to take him. As Alzheimer’s tried to take his mind he still remembered family and fought hard and long, against impossible odds to the very last heartbeat. Seems he was a warrior too.

Goodbye Dr. Joe. There was no one like you. You fought your battle to the very end and I hope you find peace in the afterlife. Say Hi to dad and our family who has passed before you. Rest in peace my friend and father.