Obituary of Billy Lee Wolf

Billy Lee (Bill) Wolf, age 85, of W. Melbourne, FL, passed Friday 9/11/15 at Holmes Regional Medical Center due to illness. He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Shirley Maxine (Frisbie) Wolf; Brother Larry of Brownsville, TX; two nieces, Merilynn Wolf and Jan McClure of Wichita, KS; two nephews, Howard and David Wise of Wichita, KS; three sons, William R. and wife Pam, Michael A. and wife Carla and Richard E. and wife Michelle Wolf of Palm Bay, Jacksonville and W. Melbourne, FL, respectively; five grandchildren, Chelsea and Cheyna Wolf of W. Melbourne, FL, Jeremy L. Wolf, Rebecca L. Griffin and Ethan D. Wolf of Kansas City, MO; and three great grandchildren, Gracie, Austin and Emma Rose Griffin. He was preceded in death by parents Gus and Hattie Wolf and Sister Dorothy Wise of Wichita, KS, and nephew Marc Wolf. Bill was born Nov. 1, 1929 (All Saints Day) in Smith Center, KS; a small farming community located in north central Kansas, to August Henry (+óGé¼+ôGus+óGé¼-¥ to friends, +óGé¼+ôDick+óGé¼-¥ to family) Wolf and Hattie Letha Gingrich. From there, the family moved to Pea Ridge, AR, to try their hand at modest farming and raising livestock. The second of three children and the oldest boy, Bill was charged with helping his Dad on the family farm doing the +óGé¼-£outdoor chores+óGé¼Gäó while his older sister, Dorothy, was busy helping her mother with the +óGé¼-£indoor chores+óGé¼Gäó. Since Bill was born at the beginning of The Great Depression, the family soon found the hardscrabble farming life of northwest Arkansas to be too difficult, so Gus and Hattie followed the call of ready employment in the aircraft manufacturing industry at Wichita, KS during WWII. It was here that Bill graduated High School at Wichita East and attended two years of classes at Wichita State studying engineering. During this time he met his future wife and +óGé¼-£soul mate+óGé¼Gäó on a blind date with friends Chuck and Ann Steadman. As history would have it, by now the Korean +óGé¼-£Conflict+óGé¼Gäó had begun and Bill felt it his patriotic duty to enlist in the Army. He was sent to Camp Chaffee, AR for basic training where, before being shipped out to Korea, he was married at the base chapel by the base Chaplin to Shirley Maxine Frisbie on Aug. 5, 1951. Needless to say, the honeymoon was brief and Maxine soon found herself on a bus back to Wichita, a newly minted +óGé¼-£Wolf+óGé¼Gäó. Bill had later confided that he regretted not informing his parents of the nuptials, thus not giving them the opportunity to participate. All was forgiven, evidently, as Maxine stayed with Gus and Hattie until Bill returned from Korea and was honorably discharged as a 2nd Lieutenant. Upon his departure from the armed services, Bill returned to continue his employment with truck and farm implement manufacturer International Harvester where he made a 25 year career of rising through the ranks, following promotions through several relocations, and retiring from the dealer development department at the regional offices in Kansas City. By all accounts, he enjoyed his job (standard corporate politics and frustrations not withstanding) and was very good at it; remaining loyal to +óGé¼-£Harvester+óGé¼Gäó and reminiscing fondly of the people and experiences he came in contact with. To all those he dealt with he was firm, but fair; structured but flexible; always treating those with whom he came in contact with honesty, integrity, respect and directness. More than once, he would travel to the nether regions of western Kansas to help a dealer get +óGé¼-£his ducks in a row+óGé¼Gäó. He would have stayed with the company except that it was sold to Case, who wanted him to relocate (yet again) to Chicago; a prospect that neither he or Maxine found appealing after living in Overland Park, KS for the past 17 years. So, he took an early retirement and soon found himself working for a small family owned remodeling and construction firm; a job he thoroughly enjoyed and was also very good at. It was while working for Terry and family that he suffered his first heart attack. By then, medical science had progressed to the point that severe heart trauma was not necessarily a life-ending ordeal, and he underwent surgery to have a pacemaker and defibrillator implanted. This regrettably was the end to construction work, but not to the opportunity to fully +óGé¼-£retire+óGé¼Gäó and develop the life-long desire to travel. He and Maxine bought a 5th wheel trailer and +óGé¼-£Big Red+óGé¼Gäó (a suitable vehicle for pulling the trailer), and spent the next several years answering the call of the open road. It was during one of their trips +óGé¼-£down south+óGé¼Gäó to visit family the realization came that due to declining health and the physical demands of travel and maintenance, a permanent residence was desirable. So they sold their Overland Park residence and moved one last time to a house they had built in W. Melbourne, FL. While medical science had progressed, human error had not been eliminated. After suffering through recurring bouts of infection, it was finally determined that the cause was tied to the installment of the pacemaker/defibrillator leads. It was during their search for a cardiac specialist that they had the good fortune to be taken on by Dr. Vicarie. He and Bill hit it off immediately and developed a relationship of mutual respect that extended beyond the office walls. To the family, Dr. Vicarie was a miracle worker; and to Dr. Vicarie, Bill was the source of stubbornness, strength of will and wicked humor +óGé¼GÇ£ so much so that Dr. Vicarie+óGé¼Gäós nickname for Bill was +óGé¼-£Lazarus+óGé¼Gäó. Lest someone reading this get the impression that Bill was +óGé¼-£all work and no play+óGé¼Gäó, nothing could be further from the truth. While he was serious when the situation called for it, he also demonstrated that few events in life could not be dealt with without humor. Sometimes to the embarrassment of immediate family, he never met a stranger, often regaling them with jokes or stories of his experiences. Whether it be in doctors+óGé¼Gäó offices, hardware stores, the neighborhood or the checkout line at the grocery, he would strike up conversations with total strangers who left feeling like they just made a new friend. He lived like life was full of opportunities to help make someone+óGé¼Gäós life a little better, was always willing to lend a hand (or garden tool), and go out of his way to help those in need. He was very handy; not shying away from any task that needed +óGé¼-£fixin+óGé¼Gäó. He was a loving husband and father, accomplished builder, bowler, card player, Grill Meister (killer rib recipe) and square dancer, who did his level best to be all he could be. Though his later years were rather sedate due to declining health, he never lost his sense of humor, always ready with a joke or a wink with a sardonic comment. He was deeply loved though not always understood, and will be sorely missed.Memorial service will be Friday September 18, 2015, at Calvary Chapel, Melbourne at 5:30 pm.