Janet Wolter-Grip

Janet Wolter Grip, M.D., Professor of Medicine at Rush University Medical Center, died on February 4, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois, surrounded by her family. She was 93 years old. Dr. Wolter was born in Chicago in 1926. She graduated Oak Park River Forest High School in 1943, Cornell College in 1946, and the University of Illinois College of Medicine in 1950, fulfilling her seventh-grade ambition to become a doctor. She served a rotating internship at the University of Illinois Research and Education Hospital, followed by a year’s fellowship at Presbyterian Hospital, and then a straight internship in medicine on the Osler Service at Johns Hopkins Hospital. She then was an assistant resident in medicine at Duke University Hospital and returned to the University of Illinois Hospital as Chief Resident in Medicine. She served in the Poliomyelitis Respiratory and Rehabilitation Center at the University of Illinois for several years until the advent of the polio vaccine rendered that center obsolete. In 1963, Dr. Wolter began her career in cancer care, joining Samuel Taylor III, M.D., an endocrinologist, who was interested in the potential use of hormones to treat breast and prostate cancers. Dr. Wolter was active in two major oncology cooperative groups, the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG), and the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast Program (NSABP), serving on both executive committees as well as several committee chairmen. In 2004, the NSABP bestowed upon her the Investigator Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1973, she was appointed to the Board of Scientific Counselors, Division of Cancer Treatment of the National Cancer Institute (NCI). In 1978, she was elected President of the Chicago unit of the American Cancer Society and also served in the national American Cancer Society. She was on the medical advisory board of Y-ME when it was founded in 1978. In 1996, she was named to the Brian Piccolo Chair for Breast Cancer Research, which she occupied until her retirement in 2009. Dr. Wolter taught at the University of Illinois College of Medicine and subsequently at Rush, achieving the rank of full professor in 1981. Dr. Wolter was elected a trustee of Rush University in 1997 and served as president of the medical staff from 1999-2001. In addition, a medical service at Rush is named in her honor. In 1973, Dr. Wolter married Carl M. Grip, Jr., Dean of the School of Liberal Arts at the Illinois Institute of Technology. She was widowed in 1995. With her marriage she was delighted to acquire 3 stepsons and, subsequently, 7 step-grandchildren and 8 step-great-grandchildren, all of whom survive her. Her sister-in-law, a niece and 3 nephews, and 5 grandnephews and nieces also survive her. Her love of cooking was well known to all her friends, who also knew of her unlimited store of jokes. Having been a long-suffering Cubs fan, she was overjoyed at their World Series win. But, her biggest avocation was music. She sang in the choir of the Cathedral of Saint James for 30 years. She also served as Warden of the Cathedral and was active in many Episcopal charities. A memorial service will be held on February 29, 2020, at 11:00 a.m. at the Cathedral of Saint James, Wabash and Huron, Chicago, Illinois. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations may be made to support the Janet Wolter Endowed Research and Education Fund at Rush University Medical Center. Please send memorial gifts to Rush University Medical Center, 1201 W. Harrison St., Ste. 300, Chicago, IL 60607-3319 or visit http://rush.convio.net/JWolter. Arrangements entrusted to Chicagoland Cremation Options of Schiller Park, Illinois.