Rich Wolfe

A chance encounter with Rich in 1998 changed the course of my life. It was my first evening without my young children who had visitation with their father. The house empty, I decided to have dinner alone at a nearby sports pub in Chandler and play trivia. By chance I sat next to Rich at the bar, wearing his signature white Stetson hat. There was interactive pub trivia and we were both playing. He said to me hey, you're pretty good, what's your strength. I said science & medicine. He excitedly invited me to join him and others at Famous Sam's in Scottsdale, thus beginning a new social life for my newly single self during a traumatic episode in my family's life. We had so much fun and he was such a great storyteller and occasionally gave me fatherly advice. Of course, he was a whiz at sports trivia, with a near encyclopedic mind of stats and names. For over a year I joined his pub team for weekly fun, eventually meeting someone there who swept me off my feet & I moved out of AZ to OH. That didn't last & I then moved back east to my original home state (where I met my current partner of 20 years).
My trivia loving extended family and I met weekly for pub trivia (until Covid hit) and I thought of Rich often.
Of course with his lack of an electronic footprint, I didn't know how to contact him to say hello. I never got back to AZ since leaving in '99.
Tonight, I tried to look him up again and sadly that search brought me here.
RIP Rich, and thank you for the fun during our fleeting friendship which changed the trajectory of my life. And my sincere condolences to the Wolfe family & friends he left behind

I was so sorry to hear of Rich's death. I met Rich at NOTRE DAME and loved hearing his stories of the baseball and football players he was writing about. My sincere condolences to his family. Rest in peace my friend.

Oh how we always looked forward to visiting with Rich and sit back with smiles on our faces as his stories unfolded. God Bless!
Patrick Callahan
Notre Dame 1964

I'll never forget Rich. He loved life and was a joy to be with. I only wish I could have spent more time with him. He was like a mighty river, always on the move and always enriching every place he visited.