From the book History of Walworth County Wisconsin, by Albert Clayton Beckwith, 
publ. 1912 - Pages 630 - 632
 
DR. WALTER ROBERT HOST.  If true to his profession and earnest in his efforts 
to enlarge his sphere of usefulness, the man who spends his life in an effort 
to alleviate human suffering in any way is indeed a benefactor of his kind, for 
to such men as Dr. Walter Robert HOST, well known dentist of Lake Geneva, are 
entrusted the comfort and safety and in some cases the lives of those who place 
themselves under his care and profit by his services.  It is gratifying to note 
in the series of personal sketches appearing in this work that there remain 
identified with the professional, public and civic affairs of Walworth county 
many who are native sons of the county and who are ably maintaining the 
prestige of honored names.  Of this number Doctor HOST is one of the worthy 
scions of an old and influential family here, and is regarded as standing in 
the front rank of professional men, having gained wide notoriety in his chosen 
calling while yet young in years, and at the same time established a reputation 
for exemplary character in all the relations of life.
 
Doctor HOST was born in the town of Lyons, Walworth county, Wisconsin, on July 
31, 1884.  He is the son of  Julius S. HOST, and wife, a complete sketch of 
whom will be found in the life record of Ernest HOST on another page of this 
volume.
 
Walter R. HOST lived in his native village until he was nine years old, then 
moved with the family to Lake Geneva where he lived until he was eighteen years 
of age, having attended the graded schools in the meantime, after which he took 
a position in his brother's meat market for a time.  He went to Wheaton, 
Illinois, when he was eighteen and took a preparatory course there, completing 
the course in the academy and later took some collegiate work.  He entered 
Northwestern University in Chicago in 1907, entering the dental department, 
where he made an excellent record and from which he was graduated in the year 
1910.  He had shown such exceptional  aptitude for this line and work that he 
was retained a year at the university as instructor, then began practicing his 
profession, although urged by the university authorities to remain with them.  
He came to Lake Geneva in July 1911, and is building up a large and constantly 
growing patronage.  He has an exceptionally well equipped office, perhaps the 
best and most thoroughly up-to-date of its kind in Wisconsin outside of 
Milwaukee.  Among his appliances seldom seen is the Pelton porcelain furnace, 
heated by electricity to twenty-seven hundred degrees Fahrenheit, for making 
porcelain inlays, bridges and crowns, also a Clark improved machine for 
administering nitrous oxide and oxygen, a combination for prolonging the 
anesthesia.  The operating chair is also a model of comfort and inviting 
appearance, equipped with a special seat for little folks and all very 
admirably adapted to the work.  It is equipped with an adjustable light of 
great power that can be focused directly on the work and various other modern 
improvements which enable the operator to do the highest class work known in 
dentistry.
 
Doctor HOST has a natural mechanical skill and talent for artistic carving.  
His recent experiments, investigations, studies and experience with the best 
advanced methods render him able to properly handle the highest class work and 
of the most difficult character.  His patients come from the surrounding cities 
in all directions from as far as Janesville and Edgerton.  He has succeeded in 
building up a large practice in Lake Geneva in a short time, his work in the 
university having given him an excellent reputation to start with.
 
Dr. HOST was married on February 15, 1911, to Marie Teresa DeGRASSE, a native 
of Detroit, Michigan, and the daughter of a prominent family, Joseph A. and 
Alice J. (CARR) DeGRASSE.  She is a lady of talent, culture and refinement and 
has long been a favorite with a wide circle of admiring friends.  Prior to her 
marriage she was widely known as a reader for public entertainments, having 
toured all over the United States and Canada with the Schubert Symphony Club, 
winning fame as a raconteurs second to none of her compeers.  Her repertoire 
included, "If I Were King," "Sermons from Our Secular Literature" (a lecture 
recital), "MacBeth" (a lecture recital), "An Evening with American Authors," 
"One Hundred and Fifty Stories for the Children's Story Hour," "An Evening of 
Scotch, Irish, Negro and Children's Dialects," selections from Shakespeare, 
Browning, Tennyson, Burns, Longfellow, Whittier, Homer, Lowell, Riley, Field, 
Dunbar, Maurice Thompson, and many others.
 
Of her work E. H. PURCELL, manager of the Schubert Concert Company, had the 
following to say, which is certainly criterion enough for her eminent 
satisfaction with the popular and widely known company:     
"Miss Marie Teresa DeGRASSE combines a most excellent ability with a charming 
personality.  She is a most estimable young lady, and one of the best all-
around readers now before the public.  In the many engagements she has filled 
for me, she has never failed to give complete and perfect satisfaction.  In the 
many years of my managerial experience it has seldom been my privilege to 
recommend so highly a young aspirant for Lyceum honors.  She is equally 
successful in classic tragedy or minor comedy, and 'looks the part' in all she 
interprets."
 
Having had occasion to attend an evening's entertainment given by Miss 
DeGRASSE, Preston W. SEARCH, well known educator, author and lecturer, of Des 
Moines, Iowa, wrote to her as follows:
    "I was very much pleased, indeed, by the fine rendition of beautiful 
selections you gave us at Carbondale.  I particularly admired the high 
character of your program, for it is not everyone who will attempt, or can 
bring out, before a popular audience, the rich fullness of a Browning.  Your 
interpretation was admirable, your reading very effective.  I shall think of 
your interpretation when I stand once more, this fall, in the Florentine Casa 
de Guido.  Permit me, as a stranger in the audience, to express to you my 
personal appreciation of a very delightful evening."
 
Many press notices and testimonials of a like character were received by Miss 
DeGRASSE from all over the country, proving beyond doubt her strong 
elocutionary ability and charming personality - a complete master of the 
difficult art of expression.  In fact, she was for some time a teacher of 
expression with the Chicago Kenwood Musical College and the Wheaton Musical 
Institute, the latter at Wheaton, Illinois, and was exceptionally successful in 
training her pupils in voice building, enunciation, expressive analysis, 
repertoire, deep breathing, muscle building, story telling, literary analysis, 
English, gymnastic dancing and rhythm, relaxing, and statue posing.
 
To the Doctor and wife a winsome and attractive daughter has been born, Helen 
Marie HOST, whose childish prattle adds sunshine to their pleasant home.
 
Doctor HOST and wife are worthy members of the Catholic church and faithful in 
their support of the same.  He also belongs to the Knights of Columbus, and is 
at this writing engaged in organizing a local lodge, of this order.  He is a 
young man of pleasing personality, affable, obliging, energetic, and 
enthusiastic for his work, and he and his estimable wife have won a host of 
friends since taking up their residence in Lake Geneva.

Submitted By:  Carol
(carolann612@charter.net)