Obituary of John Delwin Voltmann

John Delwin Voltmann, MD John Delwin Voltmann, MD of 206 Aldren Avenue, Jamestown, NY, formerly of 1602 South Main Street Extension, Jamestown, NY, and 88 Harper Avenue, Chautauqua, NY, died on November 29, 2009 at home, after a courageous battle with cancer. He was born on January 12, 1928 in Steubenville, Ohio, the son of Delwin and Catherine Edith Carlson Voltmann. He was raised in Jamestown, NY and graduated from Jamestown High School in 1945. He received a BS degree from the University of Michigan in 1949 and an MD degree from the University of Buffalo School of Medicine in 1953. He completed his Internship at the Deaconess Hospital, Buffalo, NY, his residency in Internal Medicine at the Millard Fillmore Hospital, Buffalo, NY and an NIH Fellowship in Cardiology at the Michael Reese Hospital, Chicago, Illinois. He served as a Captain in the US Army Medical Corp at Fort Meyer, Virginia, 1957-1959. He was the husband of Jean Combs Voltmann, whom he met at Chautauqua Institution through their mutual employer, Dyke and Millie Underwood, proprietors of the Muncie Hotel. They were married on June 14, 1953 at Warren Wilson College Chapel, Swannanoa, NC. He had been a summer resident of Chautauqua Institution since 1961 and was a year round resident from 1996-2008. He graduated from the Chautauqua Scientific Literary Society in 1982 and volunteered for the Oliver Archive Center. In 1959, he returned to Jamestown and established a solo practice in Internal Medicine from 1959-1970. Always a medical innovator, he was the sole owner and founder of the Jamestown Medical Clinic, 1970-1987; the first in the area to use multi-phasic screening, problem-oriented medical records and nurse practioners. From 1974-1979 he served as Medical Director of Research and Development for Lutheran Social Services of Western, NY, and from 1979-1987 served as Medical Director for Lutheran Social Services of Western, NY. From 1983-1998 he served as Director of Medical Education at W.C.A Hospital and was the Administrative Medical Director of the Resource Center from 1988-1998. He was serving on the Diagnostic & Treatment Advisory Committee and the Intermediate Care Board Advisory Committee of The Resource Center. He was a member of the attending staff of W.C.A. Hospital from 1959 to 1998 and a member of the attending staff of the Jamestown General Hospital from 1959 until its closing in 1988. He was a former member of the The Society of Nuclear Medicine, the Task Force for Primary Health Care, the Comprehensive Health Planning Council of Western New York, the Comprehensive Health Planning Council of Chautauqua County; the Board of Directors of the Cerebral Palsy Association of Jamestown; and served as past chairman of The Chautauqua County Mental Health Board. He also served as a resource physician to the local program for alcoholism, established the Radioisotope Unit at Jamestown General Hospital in 1965, initiated the effort to establish 24-hour physician coverage in the W.C.A. Hospital Emergency Room, and served on the committee to establish a Coronary Care Unit in W.C.A. Hospital, Jamestown, NY. He was the author of several publications: "The Jamestown Medical Clinic System," 1977 (analysis of its effectiveness). He presented at the Symposium of Eighth Annual Meeting of the Society for Advanced Medical Systems. He authored "The Jamestown Medical Clinic System", October 1975, Journal of the American Medical Association. He shared a Second Place Award at the NYS Medical Society Convention, 1966, for "An Exhibit on the Use of Nuclear Medicine in a Small Community." He also held a U.S. Patent, for a Plueral Medicine Vial, Supporting Tray and Cover. He was a confirmed and active member of Immanuel Lutheran Church from 1959-1974 and an active member of First Lutheran Church from 1974 to the present. In recent years he was interested in the history of Swedes in Jamestown, and self-published a "History of First Lutheran Church". He was serving on the Worship and Music Committee. He was a long time member of the Jamestown Skeet Club. Dr. Voltmann is survived by his wife, a daughter, Linda Voltmann Swanson (Randall) of Lakewood, NY, a son Timothy Delwin Voltmann (Theresa) of Westfield, NY, and a son Gregory John Voltmann (Jill) of Jamestown, NY, six grandchildren: Christine Rebekka Swanson and Peter Andrew Swanson of Rochester, NY; Erika Catherine, Monika Lynn, and Karl Delwin Voltmann of Westfield, NY; and Laura Rose Voltmann of Jamestown, NY. He was preceded in death by his parents. A memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m. Wednesday in the First Lutheran Church. The Rev. Mary L. Krahn will officiate. Inurnment will be in the Sunset Hill Cemetery. Friends will be received from 4-7 p.m. Tuesday in the Lind Funeral Home. The family requests that memorials be made to the James Prendergast Free Library; The First Lutheran Church; or the WCA Hospital 125th Anniversary History Exhibit, c/o Karl Sisson, Director of Development.