Rosemary E. Kanter

1930 - 2021

Rosemary E. Kanter

Rosemary E. Kanter, who was born February 10, 1930 and known throughout her distinguished career in medicine as Dr. Schmidt, passed away shortly after midnight Monday, January 11. Her beloved daughter, Barbara, was with her. We trust that she has now rejoined her husband Robert C. Kanter, her brothers, Jerry and Norman, and many beloveds who preceded her. Rosemary is survived by her children Barbara (Raymond Para), Rob (Karen Carney), and John (Lori Sommer), and grandchildren, Benjamin Para, Grace Para, Jane Kanter, William Kanter, Owen Kanter, and Carley Kanter. She will also be remembered by her sister Barbara Schmitt (James) and numerous nieces and nephews of multiple generations.

Rosemary was an alumna of Dayton's Julienne High School, the University of Dayton (which recognized her with an alumni Special Achievement Award), and the Saint Louis University School of Medicine. In her graduating class of 98 new doctors, she was one of only two women. Rosemary joined the faculty of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati in 1956 after completing a residency at Children's Hospital Medical Center. She was named Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in 1970, Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics in 1982, Professor of Clinical Pediatrics in 1989, and Professor Emerita in 1995.

While based at Good Samaritan Hospital from 1966 to 1978, she was Assistant Director of the Department of Pediatrics. There she taught pediatric residents and was responsible for the University of Cincinnati medical students rotating through the nurseries, inpatient service, and the Pediatric Comprehensive Care Program. She developed a number of programs there including the Pediatric Developmental Assessment and Therapy Program which included the Newborn High Risk Follow-up Program. She helped to develop the third National Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Program.

Subsequently, at Children's Hospital Medical Center, she taught residents, medical students and nurses. She served on numerous committees at Good Samaritan Hospital and Children's Hospital Medical Center, and the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, including the Ambulatory Services Committee (Pediatric Primary Care Planning Committee), the Historical Committee, the Continuing Medical Education Committee, and the Care Committee of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. Nationally, she served as the alternate to the Council on Medical Student Education in Pediatrics and chaired the State American Academy of Pediatric Injury and Poison Control Committee. She was a founding member of the Women's Faculty Association of the Department of Pediatrics. She was a member of Alpha Omega Alpha and was elected to "Who's Who of American Women" in 1968.

In 1991, the Board of Trustees of Margaret Mary Community Hospital in Batesville, Indiana, recognized her for 20 years of tireless commitment to the development of pediatric services for those served by the hospital. The following year, she received the Cincinnati Pediatric Society Recognition Award for her distinguished contributions to the health and welfare of children in the community. In 1994, she was recognized by Good Samaritan Hospital for her gift to Good Samaritan's children and their families, for her love and commitment in helping them to achieve their fullest potential. She developed and chaired the highly successful Biennial Pediatric Symposium for many years. At Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Rosemary was also proud of her advocacy for and service to the Reach Out and Read program, part of a national effort that gives young children a foundation for success by incorporating books into pediatric care and encouraging families to read aloud together.

Although Rosemary's primary concern was the health of human children, she will also be remembered for her role as doctor to the newborn western lowland gorillas born at the Cincinnati Zoo in the 1970s, beginning with the first two, Samantha and Sam. Sam was born with epilepsy, and at one point his treatment included a blood transfusion, which Rosemary administered—as the story has been told, the first ever transfusion for a gorilla. Zoo staff and officials named one of the gorillas Rosie in her honor. Having a gorilla named after her was among the many accolades Rosemary received for her pioneering work diagnosing and treating these critically endangered animals.

Rosemary met her husband, Bob, through a mutual friend and they married in 1958. They cultivated a loving relationship of more than six decades, through better and worse, richer and poorer, sickness and health, buoyed by their mutual, deep-rooted Catholic faith. She loved their three children with her whole heart, and that love extended to their spouses and her grandchildren as well. It took a special kind of determination for a woman of her generation to maintain a professional career and raise children at the same time, but she did so with aplomb.

Rosemary was as varied and active with her hobbies as she was with her professional life. She never missed a party and she loved the arts, especially the opera. Rosemary was a determined angler who relished eating her catch, and neither rain, nor a long stretch of rowing, nor children who tangled their lines incessantly could deter her from an outing on Winton Woods Lake. One rainy night when Rosemary and the children did not return after dark, Bob rushed to the boathouse to alert park staff, only to find that they had given his wife and children special permission to fish from the dock. Their explanation: "The crappie were biting." Rosemary cultivated both flower and vegetable gardens and canned peaches and tomatoes in the summer. She enjoyed trips to the art museum with anyone who would accompany her, and she would not miss a multigenerational trip to the zoo even in the cold of winter.

She will be remembered by those who loved her for her fearlessness, intelligence, compassion, and sense of adventure, qualities she helped to bring out in those around her throughout her life. A celebration of the mutual lives of Bob and Rosemary will be held in the year to come as circumstances allow. Interment will be in Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati, Ohio. Visit Daniels-Hutchison.com to send online condolences. Donations in honor of Rosemary may be made to Reach Out and Read at https://reachoutandread.org/donate/