Courtney M. Renshaw

Courtney M. Renshaw of North Little Rock died Wednesday, having completed 95 percent of a century. He was preceded in death by his wife of 67 years, Marie Faryewicz Renshaw, who passed away in 2014; also by a brother, Preston Renshaw of Alexandria, Virginia. Courtney was many things. He was an athlete. In high school at Alexandria, Virginia, he held the Virginia state record in the 100-yard dash at 9.9 seconds. His speed earned him an athletic scholarship to the University of Southern California. His career there was shortened by the draft in 1942. He was a soldier, a member of the 104th Infantry Division. He was captured by the Germans near Aachen, Germany. He and other prisoners were marched, trucked, and trained east, and he spent the last six months of the war in a small prison camp in Pockau, Germany, near the border with Czechoslovakia. Six decades later, one of his grandsons was stationed in Germany, and they drove to Pockau and found the site of the prison camp and the cemetery where he helped bury two British airmen who had been shot down. Courtney's decorations were lost over the years. They were reissued and awarded to him at a POW/MIA remembrance ceremony at the state Capitol in 2015. The Army gave him an unexpected award of a Bronze Star, perhaps to make up for the promotion he never got to private first class. He was an architect, earning his license by self-study, not having had the opportunity to go back to college after the war. He started his own firm in the late 1960s and designed numerous buildings around Arkansas, including churches, schools and courthouses. He retired in 1985. Most importantly, Courtney was a family man. He met Marie at a USO dance at Robinson Auditorium in Little Rock. They married in 1947. He was a parishioner at St. Patrick Catholic Church in North Little Rock until his death. He loved his daughters and was perpetually proud of his six grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. Courtney was also unusually wise. After Marie's death he knew that having someone, or something, to love would keep him alive. So two days after Marie's funeral he adopted Buster, a big brown mutt who himself was something of a POW, having been incarcerated at the Sherwood Animal Shelter. They were constant companions, even in hospice. Survivors include a brother, Bud Renshaw (Betty) of Bethesda, Maryland; daughters, Kay Fellone (Frank) of North Little Rock and Dena Gunderson (Ralph) of Oshkosh, Wisconsin; grandchildren, Brian Fellone (Linda) of Maumelle, Vincent Fellone (Anthea) of Richardson, Texas, Nicholas Fellone of Little Rock, Courtney Gunderson of Moose, Wyoming., Eric Gunderson (Laura) of Norway, Michigan, and Patricia Pilon (Kevin) of Duluth, Minnesota; and eight great-grandchildren. Visitation tonight at 6 p.m. with rosary at 7 p.m. at Smith North Little Rock Funeral Home. Mass of Christian burial Saturday at 10 a.m. at St. Patrick Catholic Church with burial to follow at Immaculate Heart of Mary cemetery. Memorials to St. Patrick Catholic Church or Helping Hand of Little Rock. Online obituary and guest book at www.SmithFamilyCares.com.