Thursday, April 15, 2004

Longtime Bowling Green surgeon Richard Finley Grise died Wednesday afternoon at Greenview Hospital. He was 83.He was a physician and surgeon first, and loved his work and his patients, said his son, Warren Circuit Court Judge John Grise. He also enjoyed his children and grandchildren, especially since he retired. But even in retirement, he identified himself as a doctor. And he was a great one. Grise died three days after hitting his head in a fall on Easter outside State Street United Methodist Church, where he was a lifelong member. The Warren County native was the son of the late Mary Eunice Grise and former Western Kentucky University Dean Finley Christopher Grise, for whom Grise Hall is named. He was also preceded in death by a brother, George C. Grise and a sister, Mary Ruth Sylvester. Grise first married Ruby Jane Riedlinger Grise, but at the time of his death was married to Wilma Carlbert Enholm Grise. Richard Grise was a Western graduate, and went on to earn a masters degree in surgical pathology from the University of Virginia in 1950.Dero Downing, former president of WKU, said he has known Grise and his family since Finley C. Grise was the the one and only dean at Western. Richard Grise is just a bit older than I, and he and I were students at the same time, Downing said. He graduated maybe a couple of years before I did at Western. He was a loyal Westerner, very active in the Alumni Association and in other programs and activities that benefited his alma mater. Grise served as president of Westerns national alumni association from 1982 to 1984, and held several distinguished positions with university organizations. He had so many admirable qualities that if you were making a list of community leaders, Dr. Grises name would always be on it, Downing said. Grise was a World War II veteran and served as a surgeon in several U.S. Army and Air Force hospitals. He conducted his private surgery practice in Bowling Green from 1952 to his retirement at the end of 1990.He loved Bowling Green, John Grise said. He came back to practice medicine here, though he could have gone anywhere. And after he retired he could have gone anywhere, but wanted to be nowhere else. Grise joined the medical staff at Bowling Green-Warren County Hospital, which later became The Medical Center, in 1952. He became chief of surgery there in 1966. He remained on The Medical Center staff until his 1991 retirement. Friends and colleagues would credit Richard Grise with a rare combination of judgment, technical skill and bedside manner, John Grise said. Thats why he was so successful. Grise also practiced at Greenview Hospital in 1972, becoming chief of surgery in 1975 and serving twice as chairman of the hospitals board of trustees. The Grise-Meirs Conference Room there is named for him. Grise was a member of numerous medical societies, serving as a life member of the Kentucky Medical Association and the American Medical Association. He was a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and the Southeastern Surgical Conference, and a past president of the Kentucky Surgical Society. He held several executive positions in the Kentucky Division of the American Cancer Society, and was a member of the Southern Surgical Association. Richard Grise was an outstanding individual with a great variety of talents and strengths, Downing said. He added so much to the quality of life in Bowling Green and Warren County through his career as an outstanding surgeon. He was highly regarded in his profession, did much to bring about the refinement and strengthening of health care in our area not only as an outstanding physician himself, but in the encouragement he gave to those who were intending to enter the profession. They could always visit Dr. Grise and seek his counsel and advice and assistance. Steve Snodgrass, who took over Grises practice when he retired, agreed with Downing and John Grises assessment. He was a dear friend and a great doctor, Snodgrass said. He was the consummate professional, and every doctor should strive to be like Dr. Grise. He was caring, compassionate and a wonderful colleague to many people, and he will be dearly missed. Grise was also a member of the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America, from which he won the 1975 Silver Beaver Award for Distinguished Service to Youth. He was faithful to so many important endeavors in the community, Downing said. He was very, very active in his church, which he supported by faithful attendance and in so many other ways. In addition to his wife, Grises survivors include a sister, Dorothy Louise Dodson of Bowling Green; three sons, Richard Finley Grise Jr. of Cayucos, Calif., John Riedlinger Grise of Bowling Green and James Stephen Grise of San Francisco; four stepsons, Robert Allen Enholm of New York City, William Andrew Enholm of Laguna Hills, Calif., James Arthur Enholm of Laguna Vista, Texas, and John Randall Enholm of Santa Barbara, Calif.; five grandchildren, Dustin Richard Grise and Ashley Katherine Grise, both of Cayucos and Katherine Clay Grise, John Glenn Grise and Samuel Riedlinger Grise, all of Bowling Green; and eight step-grandchildren Allison Elizabeth Gaston-Enholm and Hayley Harper Gaston-Enholm, both of Atlanta, Casey Kane Enholm, Travis Mitchell Enholm, Kyle Katherina Enholm, Russell Carlberg Enholm and Nina Leslie Enholm, all of Santa Barbara, and Malaina Marie Enholm of Laguna Vista. Hell be missed by a lot of people, John Grise said. Funeral will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at State Street United Methodist Church, with burial in Fairview Cemetery. Visitation will be from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday at Johnson-Vaughn-Phelps Funeral Home and from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. Saturday at the church. Expressions of sympathy may take the form of donations to the Dr. Richard F. Grise Memorial Scholarship Fund, in care of the College Heights Foundation, 1 Big Red Way, Bowling Green KY 42101; or to State Street United Methodist Church, 1101 State St., Bowling Green KY 42101.  Daily News ·813 College St. ·PO Box 90012 ·Bowling Green, KY ·42102 ·270-781-1700