John Wolfe. Jr.

John Spencer Wolfe, Jr., 89, a Friendswood resident since 1958, died peacefully at home on June 25, 2014.

Born on June 22, 1925 in the rural town of Leona, Texas, Mr. Wolfe was the seventh of eight surviving children of John Spencer Wolfe, Sr. and Alma Lola Venable, a farming family. He lived in Leon and Madison Counties until moving to Houston in 1947. There he began his career with Southwestern Bell Telephone Company. He married Juanita Cox in 1948.

In 1952, he was drafted into the Army, where he served as a combat engineer and performed post-WWII reconstruction in Europe. Returning from the Army to Houston and to his job at SW Bell, he moved with his wife and first child from Houston to Friendswood in 1958.

Mr. Wolfe served the Friendswood community by acting as Chief of the Volunteer Fire Department from 1961 to 1963 and assisting at the annual 4 th of July barbecues. He made lifelong friends including such Friendswood old-timers as Ransom Glines, Hubert Bales and Arden Hill. He and his wife raised two daughters in Friendswood. He continued to work for Southwestern Bell until his retirement in 1980.

Upon retirement, Mr. Wolfe and his wife moved back to the country and a small acreage in Centerville, Texas, where he helped to build the Redland Missionary Baptist Church. He was ordained as a deacon of the church there in 1983. He loved the Lord and could preach a sermon or say a beautiful prayer, his worn bible dog-eared, his favorite passages underlined. The Wolfes missed Friendswood and their children; therefore, returned to the home they built in 1988.

Mr. Wolfe was a quiet, reserved and much-respected man. Always a farm boy at heart, he spent years hunting and fishing with his brothers and brothers-in-law. His gardening skills were always evident in a well-tended yard and delicious tomatoes. He loved the outdoors and all kinds of nature-watching. Mr. Wolfe deeply loved and was deeply loved by his family and his extended family: frequently picking up the phone to call his brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews just to stay in touch. He knew the importance of staying close with loved ones.

Mr. Wolfe is survived by his wife, Juanita; his children, Patsy Edwards and her husband David Jones, and Rhonda Wolfe and her husband John Snider; his grandson, Gary Wayne "Duke" Edwards; his brother, Morris Wolfe; and by numerous nieces and nephews whom adored him.

He was preceded in death by his parents, four brothers, two sisters, and his beloved granddaughter, Jessica.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Wounded Warrior Project, P.O. Box 75817, Topeka, Kansas, 66675 or www.woundedwarriorproject.org .

Condolences can be sent to the Wolfe Family in care of Jeter Memorial Funeral Home at www.jeterfuneralhome.com.