Scott Swanson
After nearly half a century of ministering to the dental needs of Sweet Home residents, Dr. Henry Wolthuis is retiring – officially.
“I did pass on early retirement at 59½. Then I missed it at 65. Then I missed it again at 69.
“I’m going to try it at 77,” said Wolthuis last week.
He’s stepping aside to make way for a younger newcomer, Dr. Aaron Baird, who is joining the practice.
A 1966 graduate of the dental program at Northwestern University, Wolthuis accepted a year-long internship at the Portland V.A. Hospital, where he heard about Sweet Home.
“A good friend of mine at the clinic was a good friend of Dr. Jack McKean, who passed away in a hunting accident,” he recalled. “He said I should check out Sweet Home.”
They made a trip down from Portland and met with McKean’s widow.
“When the day was over, we had an arrangement,” Wolthuis said.
He took over McKean’s practice, which was a single pump chair in a room above Mollie’s restaurant, across the hall from what is now Steve Hanscom’s accounting office.
“Opportunity, opportunity, opportunity,” he said, grinning.
He and his late wife Bonita raised five children: Rene, now of Washington D.C.; Carman, of American Fork, Va.; Ivan, who remains with the family dental practice in Sweet Home; Andra, of Raleigh, N.C.; and Caryn of Camas, Wash.
After Bonita died, in 1988, Wolthuis met Mollie in Hawaii. They were married in 1990.
Over the years he’s served on the City Council, the city Budget Committee and on the Planning Commission. He’s also been active in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, where he’s played the organ for many years, and the Rotary Club. This year Wolthuis Family Dentistry held its second annual free dental care day for local underprivileged residents.
He enjoyed his career, he said, noting that he is grateful to live in Sweet Home, where people have “been so good to us over the years.”
“It’s all good memories.”
Now that he’s retired, he said he’s going to find things to do in addition to managing the two tree farms he owns, where he likes to spend his time. He’s starting with a family reunion this fall in Hawaii. After that, he’ll be looking for opportunities to “volunteer and serve,” he said.
“One thing I’m not going to do is buy a motor home and hit the road.”
Baird, 31, happens to also hail from Wolthuis’ birthplace, Ogden, Utah. He graduated from Weber State University with a degree in zoology, then did his dental training at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Va.
“When we left Richmond in May, it was 96 degrees with 100 percent humidity,” he noted. “It was miserable. We’re excited to be somewhere less humid, less extreme.”
He’s been married to Catherine, whom he met in high school, for eight years. She has worked as a registered nurse until the arrival of their son Luke, 2, and daughter Avery, 8 months. He enjoys fly fishing, hiking, camping, reading, sports and spending time with family.
Baird said he’s the youngest of five children, three of whom are dentists, as are an uncle, cousin and his father-in-law.
“I guess I was influenced that way by my family,” he said.
He discovered the opening in Sweet Home via an LDS jobs posting and started working July 1.
“I’ve already compelled him to be a Rotarian,” Wolthuis said.
Baird said he appreciates the “small-town feel of Sweet Home.”
“I like how nice and welcoming everyone is,” he said. “I like living in a community where everyone is helping and taking care of each other. That means a lot to me.”