Annie S. Rohn

Annie Smith Rohn 88, widow of the late Dr. Robert Jones Rohn, mother of four children, grandmother of seven children, and great-grandmother of two, died Wednesday of heart failure following a brief illness. She was born Oct. 21, 1918 in Maywood, Ill., the daughter of Sydney and Edna Smith and their second of four children. Mrs. Rohn grew up in the River Forest-Oak Park area of what was then suburban Chicago. She graduated from Oak Park-River Forest High School and then went to DePauw University, where she graduated with the Class of 1940. A member of the Alpha Chi Omega Sorority, she met her husband-to-be, Robert, during her senior year at DePauw. While he attended medical school at Ohio State University, she worked as a telephone operator at Illinois Bell Telephone Co .until their marriage in 1942. Mrs. Rohn was also a telephone operator in Columbus, Ohio, until the birth of a daughter, Megan, in 1944. She had a son, David, two years later. The couple briefly moved to North Carolina and New Jersey while her husband was in the Army, and then returned to Columbus while he finished his residency. There they had a second son, Daniel, in 1949. In 1950, the couple moved to Indianapolis, where Dr. Rohn established the departments of oncology and hematology at the Indiana University School of Medicine. They had a third son, Matthew, in 1953. During their years together, the couple raised their family, hosted three foreign exchange students and became patrons of several prominent local artists. Mrs. Rohn assisted in running the Rental Gallery at the Indianapolis Museum of Art for 19 years, was a member of the Contemporary Arts Society, and engaged in other volunteer activities at the IMA. She also was a member of the Indianapolis Portfolio Club and the Music Ensemble Society. Her nurturing and the family environment she and her husband created encouraged her children to become an artist, a writer, a musician and a professor of art history. All four children also have engaged in teaching. Following her husband's retirement, the couple traveled extensively, often vacationed in South Haven, Mich., and Fort Meyers, Fla., and enjoyed their growing number of grandchildren: Caitlin and Nathan O'Hara (Megan); Robert and Jacob Rohn (David); Aaron Rohn (Daniel); and Eric and Anne Rohn (Matthew); two great-grandchildren, Lillian Bryan and Ruby Arnold (Caitlin), have recently been added to the family tree. In addition to her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, Mrs. Rohn is survived by a brother, Scott Smith, of Stuart, Fla., sisters-in-law, Dorothy Smith, of Fredericksburg, Texas, and Doris Bright, of Lakeside, Ohio, a son-in-law, Christopher Wright, of Indianapolis; and daughters-in-law Madelaine Rohn, of Indianapolis, and Charlotte Melin, of Northfield, Minn.. Calling will be Friday, Dec. 15, from 4 to 8 p.m., at the Lions Head Club House, 7420 Lions Head Drive, There will be a private memorial service for family members, and burial will be at the Tawelfan Cemetery in Gomer, Ohio, where her husband was buried following his death in November 19, 2003. Memorial contribution should be made in lieu of flowers to the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation 383 Main Avenue, Fifth Floor Norwalk, CT 06851 or the Ensemble Music Society of Indianapolis P.O. Box 40188 Indianapolis, IN 46240. She will be missed by her family, friends and those whose lives were touched by her generosity and civility. Arrangements entrusted to Aaron-Ruben-Nelson Mortuary.