107 years ago, my great-grandfather Merritt and wife, Eleanor had the pleasure of a family visit. Merritt’s brother, the Reverend Smith Gardner, his wife, Agnes Rose, together with their three children came to meet the new baby, Marjorie. Born on New Year’s Day, my grandmother Marjorie would have been around six months old.
Uncle Smith was a fascinating and accomplished man but I’ll save his story for the picture of he and Aunt Agnes! As it is, his three children each prove so fascinating and accomplished in their own rights that I don’t have enough space to tell all their stories in one post.
For today, I’ll begin with the eldest, Norma Pennoyer Dunning. She was born on April 26, 1901 in Thornton, Ohio where her father was serving as pastor. She graduated from St. Mary’s School, a Catholic school in St. Mary, Ohio (founded in 1884 and still there!) From there, she attended the Western College for Women, graduating in 1922. Next, she pursued medical training at the Women’s Medical College in Philadelphia, with a residency at Passavant hospital in Pittsburgh (also still there).
This excerpt from her obituary gives a wonderful description of the life that followed:
Norma had decided to dedicate her life to mission work and after a few years as resident physician for Winthrop College in Winthrop, South Carolina, the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian sent her to Mary Wanless Hospital in Kolhapur, India in 1930. While directing that hospital she went on to study surgery and became board certified in the United States and the United Kingdom.
She was a member of the International Board of Surgeons and a Fellow of the International College of Surgeons. Dr. Farmer continued at Mary Wanless for 35 years, greatly expanding the capacity and the outreach of the hospital. She was a vivacious and dynamic speaker and, when on furloughs in the United States, she spent time talking to church and civic groups soliciting support for her mission work.
She had a rule never to use notes when speaking. They confused her because she could not read her own writing which was, after all, a doctors’ handwriting. She was also keenly aware of fashion vowing that a missionary need not look dowdy or drab. Her beauty and sense of fashion led the young women of Winthrop College to label their youthful Dr. Dunning, Dr. Stunning.
In 1942, a British Civil Servant, Sidney John Farmer, enlisted her help in caring for members of his staff who had escaped to India from Burma. He, too, noticed that she was a stunning woman and they were married on October 23, 1943.
Upon her marriage, the Board of Presbyterian Missions wrongly assumed that Dr. Farmer no longer wished to serve in her missionary capacity, and they discontinued her salary. Typically undeterred, Norma continued her full duties at Mary Wanless throughout a lengthy period of uncertainty, until her support from the Board was finally resumed.
2004 obituary, Farmington, MO
As befits such a remarkable woman, in 2003, the Missouri House of Representatives created Resolution No. 1922 to celebrate Norma’s achievements. I’d encourage you to read it in its entirety but wanted to highlight some phrases from it that I loved:
"..she has done her utmost to better the world by meeting the needs of people one individual at a time" "studiously applied herself to the academic rigors and practical experiences necessary in order to enter the healing arts as a skilled and knowledgeable physician" "an avid reader while her sight was keen and she could find the time from her busy schedule for one of life's true pleasures"
A detail I left out was that after marrying at 41 years old, Norma inherited a 14-year old step-son, Prof. John N. Farmer. John’s history is extremely interesting too, and can be found here. A touching detail from that piece is that John introduced his parents to each other:
“He had told his Dad that the doctor he had seen at the American hospital in town was a woman and beautiful. His dad checked her out. In 1943 S.J. married Dr. Norma Dunning, the Director of the Presbyterian Mary Wanless Mission Hospital and she became John’s loving and ambitious mother.”
This has been a very trying time across the U.S. and across the globe. I hope the story of this remarkable ancestor helps fill your heart with happiness and inspiration as it has mine.