Dr. Jane Herring Wooten

Dr. Jane Herring Wooten died peacefully on December 23rd. She was born in Roseboro, North Carolina on August 2, 1918, to William Henry Herring and Mary Freeman Herring. Her childhood was filled with building sailboats, swimming at White Lake and riding her beloved horses, Frank and Lady.

Always ambitious, Jane graduated from Peace College in 1937, and Greensboro College in 1939, before becoming one of the first female graduates from Duke Medical School in 1943. She held internships at both Massachusetts General Hospital and Vanderbilt Hospital, where she met her husband Kenneth Wooten. She completed her medical residency at Los Angeles Children’s Hospital, before marrying in 1946. She opened her medical practice as a pediatrician in Raleigh that same year. During her 15 years in private practice, she cared for many children always calling them her "babies."

In 1961, she gave up her private practice to enter into public service, acting as administrator of the Wake County Health Department until 1986. During that time, she vociferously advocated for the Sabin polio vaccine and earned her Masters in Public Health from UNC in 1967. She was an active volunteer with Meals on Wheels in Raleigh and adopted many Golden Retrievers through the Neuse River Golden Retriever Rescue Club.

After retirement, she continued to contribute to the medical health of children of Wake County, by participating in local well-baby clinics and acting as Medical Director at Camp Shalom. When she wasn’t selflessly volunteering her time, she fed her insatiable curiosity by studying maps and traveling the world with her husband Ken, from Australia and the Galapagos, to white water rafting in Colorado and scuba diving in the Florida Keys.

She is predeceased by her husband, and survived by her children Susan Wooten Gaines and Walter Herring Wooten; her granddaughter, Kathryn Gaines Frost and husband, Walker; and her great-grandchildren, James Laurence Frost and Imogen Jane Frost. In her later years, she was also supported by a wonderful team of dedicated and loving care providers, to whom the family is eternally grateful.

A private service will be held at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, donations to Transitions LifeCare or Neuse River Golden Retriever Rescue Club would honor her memory.

Arrangements by Brown-Wynne Funeral Home, 300 Saint Mary's St. Raleigh, NC.