Gale Wolfe

Mr. Gale Wolfe of Grasston died Wednesday (2/8/12) at his home in Grasston at the age of 74 years. Gale was born March 26, 1937, to Rene and Vivian (Krause) Wolfe in Charles City, Iowa. His childhood years were spent on a family farm near Rudd, Iowa, with his grandparents, Wesley and Lottie Krause. Those experiences instilled a love for the land, working in a garden, raising livestock, connecting with the earth, and living a simplistic life. It deeply affected his ambitions throughout his life. He moved with his family to Minneapolis during his adolescent years where he and his brothers, Mike and Rick, lived on Nokomis Parkway. Gale attended South High School where he developed lifelong friendships and participated in numerous sports activities. He graduated from South High in 1955, enlisted in the United States Army and was stationed in Gelnhausen, Germany, where he served until 1958. During his tour in Germany he met the love of his life, Elisabeth Schafer, and they were married in 1957. Their daughter, Linda, was soon welcomed into their family and in June of 1958 they returned to the United States. They made their home in South Minneapolis and Gale worked as a machinist for several years. Meanwhile the family expanded to five with the births of Jimmy in 1959 and Larry in 1960. Eventually Gale enrolled in a vocational school and established himself as a carpet layer. The family moved to Coon Rapids, Minnesota where he became involved in his children's educational and extracurricular activities. He continued to dream of owning a farm, and that dream became a reality in 1973 when the family moved to Grasston. Gale had many interests, some of which were fishing, hunting, trapping, graphing apple trees, gardening and raising pigeons and Black Labrador Retrievers. He made many lifelong relationships through these endeavors. Gale is survived by his wife of 54 years, Elisabeth; daughter: Linda (Greg) Piha of Rush City, MN; sons: Jim (Bev) Wolfe of Berryville, AR and Larry (Gail) Wolfe of Cassville, MO; grandchildren: Troy Wolfe of Pine City, MN, Terry Wolfe of Elk River, MN, Keilee-Rae (Jason) Miller of Richfield, MN, Justin Kristi) Piha of North Branch, MN, Heather Wolfe-Roberts, of Pine City, Amanda Wolfe of Springfield, MO, and Nick Wolfe of Cassville; great grandchildren: Preston, Paige, Taylor and Talen; brothers: Mike (Nancy) Wolfe of Delano, MN and Bill (LaRoe) Wolfe of Honduras; sisters: Barb (Tim) Skillings of Blaine, MN and Kathy (Tom) Picha of Andover, MN; sister-in-law: Chong Orr of Mpls, MN; aunt: Vera Krause of Charles City; several nieces and nephews; many cousins and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, Vivian (Morrie) Orr, Rene and Evelyn Wolfe, his brother Rick Orr and grandson Chad Piha. A private family service is scheduled for a later date. Funeral arrangements were entrusted to the Funeral and Cremation Service, Olson Chapel, Rush City, Minnesota. www.funeralandcremationservice.com