REV. DR. HARRY WOLF

The Rev. Dr. Harry Wolf was born on January 28, 1907, in Fostoria, Ohio, to Andrew and Mary Wolf. There were two brothers, Otto and Carl, and two sisters, Mildred and Idella.

He married Gladys C. Gross, also of Fostoria, Ohio, in 1934. Their marriage was blessed with two children, Cynthia Ann (deceased) and Richard Alan, who now resides in Arizona. After 61 years of marriage, Gladys went to her heavenly home in December, 1995.

Dr. Wolf attended a one-room rural school in Hancock County, Ohio; Arcadia High School in Arcadia, Ohio; and Capital University and Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Bexley, Ohio. He also attended Bowling Green State University, Yale and Wayne State University. He holds a B.A. and B.D. degree and was awarded a Doctor of Divinity Degree by Capital University in 1961.

As a depression-years graduate, he first worked in a foundry in Ohio. He was pastor of Zion Lutheran Church of Woodland, Michigan from 1934 to 1940 and pastor of Puritan Heights Lutheran Church of Detroit from 1940 to 1947.

Dr. Wolf served as Executive Director of Lutheran Social Services of Michigan from 1947 to 1973. During those 26 years of faithful service, he managed the placement of over 3,000 infants and children into adoptive homes and helped to resettle over 3,500 World War II refugees in Michigan. He also served three months in Austria working with immigrants. In addition to supervising chaplains, volunteers, and the Book Shop, Dr. Wolf also was responsible for the construction and operation of Luther Haven in Detroit, Luther Manor in Saginaw, and Luther Home in Grand Rapids. All are facilities for the aged, housing over 300 aged persons.

Since semi-retirement in 1973, Dr. Wolf has served as Assisting Pastor to The Rev. Dr. David Eberhard at Riverside Lutheran Church of Detroit, Holy Trinity Polish Lutheran Church of Detroit, and Holy Trinity Slovak Lutheran Church of Detroit. In 1981 he began serving as an Assisting Pastor of Historic Trinity Lutheran Church of Detroit, and heads up the Dau Church History Library, housed at Historic Trinity.

Pastor Wolf has served on the Governor's Commission of Displaced Persons, Michigan Committee on Immigration, Detroit Council of Churches, Michigan Non-Profit Homes for the Aged, Michigan Society of Gerontology, Ralph Bunche Community Council, and the Martin Luther King Non-Profit Housing Corporation. He is a member of the Industrial Center Kiwanis Club of Hamtramck and was its President Elect for 1984-85.

Dr. Wolf went to his heavenly home March 1, 2003. He is interred in Historic Trinity's Chapel of the Resurrection.