Dr. Richard Bernard ROLFES

ROLFES Dr. Richard Bernard Rolfes, age 86, of Florence, Kentucky, died after an extended illness on March 3 at Florence Park Care Center. Dick, who grew up in Harrison, Ohio, was born in Cincinnati on September 27, 1923. A 1941 graduate of Harrison High School, he served as an aviation radioman, second class in the United States Coast Guard during WWII (1942-1947), stationed primarily in Alaska. Dr. Rolfes graduated from the Northern Illinois College of Optometry in Chicago in 1949 and practiced in Newport, Kentucky, and Southgate, Kentucky, until his retirement in 1984. An active member of the Lion's Club, the Knights of Columbus, and the Kentucky Optometric Association, he worshipped at All Saint's Church in Walton, Kentucky. An avid fisherman and horse racing enthusiast, he owned and raced several thoroughbreds at local tracks. Dick is survived by his wife, Melba Jean Van Treese Rolfes, of Florence, Kentucky, his son, Dr Rick Rolfes, and daughter-in-law, Deborah Kirkman, of Lexington, Kentucky, brothers Alfred Rolfes of Harrison, Ohio, Harry Rolfes also of Harrison, and Thomas Rolfes of Yorkstown Heights, New York; and sisters Betty Jonas of Cedar Grove, Indiana, and Rita Viel of Harrison, Ohio. The family will receive visitors at Stith Funeral Home, 7500 Highway 42, Florence, KY, on Friday, March 5, from 5 to 6:30. Services will be held at Stith Funeral Home Chapel on Saturday, March 6, at 11 AM with the interment to follow at Saint Patrick's Cemetery in Verona, Ky. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Habitat for Humanity.