John C. Willke facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
John C. Willke
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| Born |
John Charles Willke
April 5, 1925 Maria Stein, Ohio, United States
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| Died | February 20, 2015 (aged 89) Cincinnati, Ohio, United States
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| Spouse(s) | Barbara Jean Willke (c. 1923 – 2013) (m. c. 1948 – 2013) her death |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physician |
John Charles Willke (April 5, 1925 – February 20, 2015) was an American author, physician, and activist. He served as president of National Right to Life.
Life and career
Willke was born in Maria Stein, Ohio, the son of Marie Margaret (Wuennemann) and Gerald Thomas Willke. He graduated from Roger Bacon High School in 1942 and earned his M.D. from the University of Cincinnati in 1948. In 1948, he married Barbara Hiltz, a nurse. Willke worked as a family physician in Cincinnati, Ohio, and was on the staff of the formerly named Providence and Good Samaritan hospitals. He stopped practicing medicine in 1988 in order to devote himself full-time to his activism.
In the 1950s and 60s, Willke and his wife taught abstinence-only sex education courses for the Catholic Church. In the early 1970s, he founded Right to Life of Greater Cincinnati along with his wife to lobby against Roe v. Wade.
In 1980, he became president of National Right to Life.
Political affiliations
Mitt Romney's 2008 presidential campaign embraced Willke as "an important surrogate for Governor Romney's pro-family agenda".
