Pueblo County, Colorado
WILLIAM SENGER, M.D.
Contributed by Karen Mitchell.
It so happened in the life of the distinguished surgeon, Dr. William Senger, of Pueblo, that in the year he completed his internship, he joined Richard Warren Corwin, M.D., in the organization of a hospital inaugurated by the older man, on a new plan and introducing the most modern practices established at that time. One of the proofs of the qualities of the founder was his ability to select sound men to be associated with him, and to retain their loyalty through good periods and bad. One of these close associates was Dr. Senger, who ultimately gave up his general practice to devote full time to what is now the Corwin Hospital of Pueblo, succeeding to the post of chief surgeon.
Dr. Senger is a native of New york, born at Port Jervis, June 8, 1874, son of Louis C. and Florence Amelia (Corwin) Senger, both of whom are now deceased. The father came originally from the Tyrol, in the Austrian Alps region, while his wife was a member of a long established family of note in Binghamton and Broome County, New York. The future doctor prepared for higher academic education in the high school of his birthplace, and matriculated at Williams College in Massachusetts, where he was graduated a Bachelor of Arts, class of 1895. For his technical education he went to the Medical College of Yale University, Connecticut, where he became a Doctor of Medicine in 1901. To a large extent he had worked his way to a profession by various occupations and probably was the better for the fact that he climbed a road strewn with obstacles, to ultimate success. He was an intern in the famous Presbyterian Hospital of New York City (1901-1902), and the Minnequa Hospital, in the Pueblo section of Colorado. His post-graduate studies were carried on in the Philadelphia Polytechnic Hospital, and in England and Germany.
In 1903, Dr. Senger initiated a general practice of his profession in Pueblo, but was a specialist in internal medicine from graduation to the year 1909. Since that time his activities have been for the most part surgical, in which he has earned an exceptional reputation. From the record it would appear that his inclination and work was in the direction of surgery well before the above date, but also from the record is the fact that in 1910, he devoted his attention to surgery and several years later accepted appointment as Assistant Chief Surgeon of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, with headquarters in the Minnequa (Corwin) Hospital, of which he later was named head. Upon the death of Dr. Richard Warren Corwin in 1929, (q.v.) he was chosen Chief Surgeon of this remarkable institution, a spot he filled most capably to his retirement in 1943.
Since the above year, Dr. William Senger has carried on a limited private practice. He has been surgeon of the Missouri Pacific & C.& W. Railroad since 1914; attending surgeon of the Colorado Insane Asylum since 1918; and also of the Woodcroft Sanatorium, since 1923. For keeping in contact with colleagues and the latest developments in surgery and medicine, Dr. Senger is a member of the Pueblo County Medical Society, the Colorado State Medical Society, American Medical Association, Western Surgical Association, the American Association of Industrial Physicians and Surgeons, and is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. His contributions to the literature of his profession include numerous articles published in medical and scientific magazines. He is a former president of the Pueblo County Medical Society, and the Colorado State Medical Society. Fraternally Dr. Senger is affiliated with the Masonic Order. He is a Republican in party connections but more interested in good candates and progressive measures than in political association. For a decade he was a member of the School Board, District No. 20, and has been at all times to the fore in the promotion of education and cultural affairs in Pueblo. Socially inclined, his clubs include the Minnequa, Pueblo Golf, Beulah, and the Kiwanis. He and his family attend the Protestant Episcopal Church, and are liberal in the support of religious and charitable works. As regards recreation, Dr. Senger enjoys almost anything that enables him to get out-of-doors. He long has fished and hunted, and is no mean expert at gardening, whether ornamental or practical.
On March 28, 1919, Dr. William Senger married Mary Edith Knott, of Los Angeles, California, and they are the parents of a daughter Elizabeth, a graduate of San Luis School in Colorado Springs, and Colorado College. She married Frank C. Moore, of Dallas, Texas, who served as a captain in the 32nd Infantry Division, United States Army, World War II.
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