Dr. Duane Messner
1986
Recreation/Development | 2001
Hometown: Georgetown, Colorado
School Name: University of St. Thomas and National Sports Center for the Disabled
Born during the Great Depression on a farm in Jasper, Minnesota Duane Messner grew up understanding the importance of hard work. He and his brother Milo left Jasper in 1948 to attend the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. Upon graduation, Duane attended St. Louis University School of Medicine and received his medical degree in 1956. He then did a stint a two year in the US Air Force as a Flight Surgeon before relocating to Colorado to complete his orthopedic residency at Denver General Hospital and establish a private practice in Lakewood.
Duane had a passion for the outdoors and skiing in particular. While continuing to practice medicine in Colorado, he served as the US Ski Team Doctor and joined the team for the Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France in 1968. Through his experiences with Winter Sports and his work with the Children’s Hospital Amputee Clinic, which he co-founded, he learned that recreation through skiing could help with the rehabilitation of children with amputations. With this knowledge they approached Arapahoe Basin Ski Area and the director of the ski school, Willy Schaefler. In 1969, it was decided that they would begin the program with 15 amputee children. The program remained at A-Basin for two seasons before the George Engel Ski School at Winter Park Resort was contacted and the program found its permanent home and eventually became the National Sports Center for the Disabled.
As the program grew at Winter Park, racing quickly became a large component and he became the doctor who traveled with the disabled ski team. In 1976, he accompanied four persons with amputations to France for the first Paralympic international event. In 1980, he also traveled to Geilo, Norway, for the first Disabled Ski World Championships. Duane, along with his best friend and fellow HOF inductee Jack Benedick, worked passionately with the International Olympic Committee to recognize disabled athletes and to propel them to the same competitive level as able-bodied Olympians. This became one of his true passions in life and he continued as a sports medicine advisor to the disabled racing program until his retirement in 2004 and in doing so made it possible for countless individuals to excel in their sport.
