Read about fellow KCU supporters who are committed to changing health care for good.
Elliott Klain, DO (COM 1974)
An ardent supporter of Kansas City University (KCU), Elliott Klain, DO (COM 1974), has been giving to the University for more than 30 consecutive years. He is a member of the Gold, Conley, and Heritage Societies and was a proud recipient of KCU’s 2022 Star Spangled Banner Medallion. In May 2024, we celebrated his enduring generosity by announcing his generous gift of $50,000 to commemorate his 50th class reunion year.
“As a continuation of my giving, I’m proud to make this gift, and I hope it inspires others to follow suit,” Dr. Klain said. “I believe that as we grow in successful careers, we must also grow in kindness, goodness and gentleness. That’s what people will remember you by.”
Dr. Klain’s gift serves as the foundational gift for the newly established COM Dean’s Excellence Fund. This fund provides the executive dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine with additional resources to support KCU students in creative and meaningful ways and offers unique flexibility for the dean to respond to emerging needs that may arise during the academic year.
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This resource ensures KCU remains agile and responsive, ready to embrace opportunities that align with our mission–improving the well-being of the communities we serve. As an expression of our deep gratitude, KCU will recognize Dr. Klain’s thoughtful gift by naming a study room in his honor in the newly renovated Student Success Center in the Strickland Education Pavilion on the Kansas City campus.
Dr. Klain’s gift represents a trend that KCU donors are taking advantage of: making gifts without writing a check. “It was easy – and made a lot of financial sense — to make this gift through a combination of qualified charitable distributions (QCD) from my IRA, and donating some of my appreciated stocks,” he noted.
Dale Reinker, DO, FAAOS, FACOFP (COM 1969)
At home in Troy, Missouri, where he grew up, he and his wife of more than 50 years, Joan, reside on 300 acres of farmland. He likes living where he knows so many people – and they know him.
“I’ve always considered my patients as friends and loved them,” said Dr. Reinker about his 42-year career. “The fact that people who knew me from high school entrusted me with their health care was gratifying.”
Although retired since 2011, Dr. Reinker remains active in his community through the Rotary Club, having served two terms as chapter president, and at his church, where he has held many roles. Additionally, he has held positions on the Mercy Health Foundation Lincoln Board of Directors and the Lincoln County Resource Board.
As he reflects on a life well lived, Dr. Reinker feels thankful for Kansas City University (KCU).
“KCU allowed me to have a vocation and life that I otherwise might not have – and to do a lot of memorable things.”
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Unlike some practitioners who focus on a single specialty, he sought to gain expertise in multiple areas, enabling him to work at a community hospital and offer a range of services. Thanks to the educational foundation he received at KCU, and to additional training in bronchoscopy, gastrointestinal endoscopy, laparoscopic surgery and obstetrics, Dr. Reinker developed the skills needed to offer a wide range of services in community-based hospitals. Not only did he oversee health care for the 10,000 employees who built the Wolf Creek Generating Station in Burlington, Kansas, but he also delivered more than 1,000 babies during his career.
Because Dr. Reinker believes that KCU provided him with an excellent education and continues to do so for students today, he makes charitable gifts to support the University. After tax laws changed in 2016-2017, he sought a giving vehicle that was easy and tax-free. He made the donation using his Individual Retirement Account (IRA) to give directly to KCU through qualified charitable distributions (QCDs).
“Not only is it easy to donate, but I can also give a little bit more money because it is tax-free.”
The education Dr. Reinker earned at KCU provided him with a meaningful career, a lifestyle that supported his family well, and a fulfilling retirement. It also opened the door for interesting hobbies such as horseback riding.
The Reinkers became interested in Appaloosa horses through one of their patients, a former Kansas State Rodeo Queen. They met her after a horse stepped on her thumb, injuring it badly. She was brought to Dr. Reinker for treatment, who suggested that a plastic surgeon would be a more suitable choice. However, the closest plastic surgeon was about 100 miles away, so they asked him to do the surgery. He reattached her thumb, and it healed nicely.
Because she was so grateful for the care she received, she took the Reinkers out to their ranch and offered to teach them to ride. While they were there, they spotted an energetic Appaloosa colt. Soon, the little guy, whom they named Pepper, became part of the family. Over the years, the Reinkers have owned more than 50 horses and still enjoy riding today.
Travel was limited during Dr. Reinker’s working years because he was often on call 24/7. After retirement, the Reinkers traveled throughout Europe, Thailand, Russia and India. They also rode on horseback along the 1,500-mile Nez Perce (Nimíipuu or Nee-Me-Poo) National Historic Trail, which stretches from Wallowa Lake, Oregon, to the Bear Paw Battlefield near Chinook, Montana.
Dr. and Mrs. Reinker regularly travel back to KCU for Homecoming; this year, they look forward to reconnecting with classmates and celebrating Dr. Reinker’s 55th Reunion.
He is quick to give credit to KCU for his career preparation, but he’s just as quick to give credit to his family for their support during the often-rigorous years of his career.
“My family was very supportive when I was on call 24/7.”
Those were the times when he felt truly blessed.
Lois Narr, DO (COM 1990)
“There are many days when I’m sitting in a room listening to somebody who is pouring their heart out to me, and I know I’m in the right place… and I’m doing what I was meant to do,” said KCU alumna Lois Narr, DO, COM 1990.
A family physician for more than 30 years, Dr. Narr practices in Cambridge, Maryland–a rural and diverse community of 13,000 on the Choptank River just up from the Chesapeake Bay. In addition to leading a thriving practice, the former college All-American and National Champion distance runner is also the head coach of the local high school’s cross-country and track and field teams.
“What’s not perfect about it?” she mused. “Well, the long hours, continuous on-call and family sacrifice, but am I making a difference… am I improving people’s lives? I believe I am.”
Dr. Narr was inspired to become a doctor by her former family physician, Ronald Goldberg, DO, “… who really saw (his) patients and knew them as people, not just as a disease or a disorder or a way to make a living.”
Dr. Goldberg recommended Kansas City University because it would offer her the best opportunities. Dr. Narr, who is from the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, area, said she questioned coming to the Midwest, but Dr. Goldberg assured her that KCU was the best choice. She took his advice and began her medical school journey in 1986. She graduated in 1990, began her residency in southern New Jersey, and immediately started looking for a place to practice thereafter.
Dr. Narr and her husband were open to living in a small town, as they had experienced small-town life as undergraduates at Franklin and Marshall College (Lancaster, Pennsylvania), and again when Lois was a rotating medical student in Augusta, Kansas.
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“I got a picture of what it could be like to be a doctor in a small town. . . a place that really needs doctors, as opposed to a place where there’s a doctor on every corner and patients just doctor shop for the one that’s going to give them things that they think they want and need.”
Choosing a small town also provided one other crucial benefit – help in paying back her medical school loans. “When I applied to medical school, I did not have financial support from my family.” Instead, she incurred more than $100,000 in loans.
After graduation, she and her husband looked for a medically underserved community that offered loan repayment assistance. They found what they were looking for in Cambridge.
Although she could have left Cambridge after fulfilling her five-year commitment, Dr. Narr and her husband decided that this was the place she wanted to put down roots and raise her family. She set up a private practice — Lois A. Narr, DO, LLC — and today employs 11 people, including three providers, five nurses, and supporting staff.
“I want to be the doctor that knows her patients… the patients trust me… and we develop a relationship,’ she said. “I’m a good listener, because if I’m not a good listener, then I’m not going to get it right.”
Dr. Narr credits KCU with providing her with the skills and education to pursue her dream of helping others, which is why she is a long-time member of KCU’s Conley Society, as well as a member of the Gold Society, having supported KCU students through her personal giving for over 27 years.
“Kansas City was my opportunity. It has put me in a place where I can do the most good for people in need.”
Frances Haas, DO (COM 1995)
Frances Haas, DO (COM 1995), believes that “to whom much has been given, much is required” – and she believes that she has been given a lot.
Her path to medicine was anything but traditional. After graduating from high school in 1969, she pursued a nursing degree at Missouri Southern State University (MSSU) in Joplin, Missouri. Financial support was scarce. Her family was poor, and after losing her father at just 15 years old, she relied on Social Security and veterans’ benefits, along with a $200 scholarship to fund her education.
Looking back, Dr. Haas says that $200 scholarship, small by today’s standards, was pivotal in her obtaining her education. She wants to do the same for other non-traditional students, particularly those who are already working in the medical field.
Dr. Haas became a member of Kansas City University’s (KCU) Gold Society during her final year of medical school, beginning with small monthly donations. This commitment has continued ever since. In 2025, she plans to establish the Haas/Mohler/Mahurin/Potts Scholarship at KCU, named to honor those who encouraged and supported her on her path to becoming a physician. Her ongoing monthly contributions will provide funding for this impactful scholarship.
Another pivotal point was her interaction with osteopathic physicians at Oak Hill Hospital in Joplin, where she worked as an RN.
“As the attending physicians were teaching the medical students, they taught me,” she said. “I learned to palpate. They gave me the stethoscope and I got to listen to the chest and lungs, too.”
She loved that experience and soon decided to become an osteopathic physician. She began taking premed classes at MSSU and applying to medical schools. But her dream was to attend Kansas City University.
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“When I worked at Oak Hill Hospital, medical students from the school rotated through,” she remembered. “One night, after a baby was born to a diabetic mother and went into diabetic shock, I accompanied the students when the baby was transferred to Kansas City. On the way, the baby arrested and while one student directed the ambulance driver to the hospital, I assisted the other with cardiac massage and CPR to keep the baby alive. Once we arrived at the hospital, where doctors were able to care for the baby, they took me on a tour of the hospital. I was so impressed with their compassion and professionalism, and the state-of-the-art hospital, I decided this was the place I wanted to go to school,” she said.
Although it took three years—and persistence—Dr. Haas was accepted to KCU in 1991 at age 39.
Upon graduation in 1995, Dr. Haas completed her internship and residency at Tulsa Regional Medical Center, now Oklahoma State University Medical Center. Following her residency, she purchased a practice from a physician who specialized in HIV care and later served as a principal investigator for HIV pharmaceutical studies. Although Dr. Haas was passionate about her work with HIV drugs, private practice was challenging.
“It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I couldn’t make the insurance companies pay.” Although her staff was paid, she only made $6,000 a year.
After five years, she closed her practice and began teaching internal medicine at the University of Oklahoma. From there, she went to the Warren Clinic in Tulsa, but in 2022, when she was 70, she decided she should “slow down.”
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