H. James Wallace Jr. M.D, of Rutland died on August 8 at the Meadows at East Mountain following a long illness.

Jim was born on August 15, 1930 in South Hadley Falls, Massachusetts, the son of H. James Wallace and Evelyn Mason Wallace. He graduated from Bellows Free Academy in Saint Albans, Vt. in 1949 and Williston Academy in 1950. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Vermont in 1954 and graduated cum laude from the University of Vermont College of Medicine in 1958. He completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at the Mary Fletcher Hospital in Burlington and subsequently did a fellowship in hematology and oncology at Roswell Park Memorial Institute in Buffalo, N.Y.

In 1964 Jim returned to Vermont as an Assistant Professor in Medicine at UVM and established the first medical oncology practice in the state. He subsequently chose to continue his academic career at Roswell Park and the State University of New York at Buffalo in the 1970’s and served as Acting Chief of the Treatment, Rehabilitation and Continuing Care Branch at the National Cancer Institute in 1975. After a successful academic career he elected to return to Vermont and start an oncology practice in Rutland. His interest in clinical research and his desire to bring state-of-the-art oncology care to his patients led him to become a founding member and Principle Investigator of the Green Mountain Oncology Group, an organization that allowed patients with cancer from around the state to be treated with the latest research and treatment protocols. He also spearheaded the successful development of the Community Cancer Center at Rutland Regional Medical Center, which opened in 1989.

After fourteen years of solo clinical practice and nearing retirement he returned to his academic roots and became the Executive Officer of the Cancer and Leukemia Group B; Research Professor at Dartmouth Medical School; and served as an attending physician at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, the White River Junction Veterans Administration Medical Center and at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center in Bennington. Over the course of his career, in addition to his clinical and academic duties, he served as Director of the Rutland Area Hospice, surveyor for the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer, President of the Vermont Division of the American Cancer Society, and board member of the Vermont Board of Medical Practice. He was awarded the University of Vermont College of Medicine Service to Medicine and the Community award in 1988 and was named Vermonter of the Year by the Rutland Herald in 1993.

Jim married a young nurse, Dorothy Green on July 4, 1959 and they raised three children. In addition to his passion for caring for patients, he enjoyed time with his children and grandchildren, antiquing, as well as cultivating bonsai and orchids. He was an outstanding chef who loved the drama of presenting flaming desserts at family gatherings. He combined his fondness for travel and food by attending, with Dotty, a cooking class at Le Cordon Bleu during a trip to Paris

He is survived by his wife Dotty; his son H. James Wallace III, M.D., his wife Micaela, and their three children Aislinn, Audrey, and Eleanor; his daughter Elizabeth W. Morton, her companion Richard Gallo, and her son Eric; and his son John Wallace, his wife Rose Kennedy, and their children Morgan and Jack. He is also survived by his sister, Martha Domenico of Washington, D.C. and several nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his brother Douglas Wallace

The family would like to express their profound thanks to the staff at The Meadows as well as Rutland Area Visiting Nursing Association & Hospice for their compassionate and loving care of Jim.