Paul Wolfe

May 25, 1943 - April 16, 2016

      In lieu of an "official" obituary (although if we get one, we'll put it on the website immediately) we are sharing the observations and feelings that Mick Hager wrote after he attended Paul's memorial service, April 23, 2016.  Mick lives in El Cajon, CA, and had visited Paul just a few weeks prior to his death. Mick writes:   

     "I attended Paul Wolfe’s celebration of life last Saturday at his home in Pomona, California. It was a very casual celebration of life, something that Paul would have been comfortable with and was attended by family and friends. It was very meaningful to the family that so many of Paul’s Marshalltown friends sent stories about Paul. I spoke of the gentle giant we all loved and remembered that Paul and I used to commiserate about our girlfriends and our family situations with a few beers, sitting on the hood of a car, out in the country at night. They all said that Paul told lots of Marshalltown stories throughout his life and spoke fondly of his many friends there.

     "Four people introduced themselves as Paul’s 'kids' and told about how Paul, as a parole officer, had rescued them from the legal system and had taken them in to his home and even paid for their schooling and that Paul was the only 'father' they had ever known. Another person said that he worked with Paul and that Paul recognized his drinking problem and gotten him into a rehab program, calling him every month to listen and to keep him sober -- and it worked. Marlene’s kids said that Paul was the father to them that their own father was not. And his grandchildren spoke about Paul, the grandparent who would listen to them at 3:00 in the morning, when they needed someone just to listen. 

     "On the  long ride home, I had time to think about all the good that Paul accomplished in his life and I was grateful that I had the opportunity to know him, both growing up in Marshalltown and during my 25 years here in California.

     "Paul passed peacefully at home in his sleep surrounded by family. When I was with him a month ago, he said that is how he wanted to go. We have lost a good friend but he will be remembered by many."

Best wishes,
Mick Hager