Obituary of Norman 'Norm' Graham Wolfe (1926–2015)

The published obituary of Norman “Norm” Graham Wolfe, Chuck Eesley’s great-uncle by marriage and the long-time co-host of the 108 Hillcrest Drive holiday-meal pattern of Chuck’s childhood. Published in the Marietta Times, 21 February 2015, following Norm’s death 9 January 2015 in Largo, Florida, age 88.

The obituary closes — with the family’s own framing — an arc this archive had been able to assemble only in pieces.

What the obituary establishes

Birth and parents: “He was born in Marietta, on July 15, 1926, the son of the late Homer O. Wolfe and Margaret Graham Wolfe.” Confirms the birthdate already in the GEDCOM (15 July 1926, Marietta), and names Norm’s parents:

• Father: Homer O. Wolfe — a previously-unrecorded great-great-grandfather-by-marriage on Chuck’s tree.
• Mother: Margaret Graham Wolfe — from whom Norm received his middle name “Graham” and through whom his brother also received a Wolfe-and-Graham naming pattern.

Brother: “Norm’s brother, Homer O. Wolfe, Jr., predeceased him in 2014.” Norm had a brother Homer O. Wolfe Jr. (also named after their father), who died the year before Norm.

Marriage: “his loving wife and companion of 69 years, Betty J. Davis Wolfe” — 69 years. Counting back from January 2015 puts the marriage at c. 1946 — Norm 19 or 20, Betty about the same, right after the war.

Daughters: “his daughters Victoria Schwartz (Geoff), Norma Grundset (Ken), and Peggy Wolfe.” Three daughters:

• Victoria Schwartz (married Geoff Schwartz)
• Norma Grundset (married Ken Grundset) — “Norma” almost certainly named for her father Norman.
• Peggy Wolfe

These are Chuck’s mother’s first cousins on the Davis side — the cousins who would have been at the same Hillcrest holiday tables Chuck remembers.

Grandchildren and great-grandchildren: “his granddaughter, Emily Marie Schwartz Crouch (Zachary); and his 2 year old great-granddaughter, Charlotte Victoria Crouch. His grandson, Geoffrey B. Schwartz II predeceased him in 2009.”

• Granddaughter Emily Marie Schwartz Crouch (married Zachary Crouch)
• Great-granddaughter Charlotte Victoria Crouch (age 2 in Jan 2015, so b. c. 2012–2013)
• Grandson Geoffrey B. Schwartz II, who predeceased Norm in 2009 — named for his father Geoff Schwartz Sr.

Marietta High School and football: “He attended Marietta High School and played football for the Tigers, where he was the team captain his senior year. He loved football (rarely missed a televised Ohio State football game) and golf.” Football captain at Marietta High School (likely class of 1944 or 1945); lifelong Ohio State football fan; golfer.

Marietta College and World War II: “Not long after graduating from Marietta High School and attending Marietta College, he married his high school sweetheart, Betty Jean Davis. World War II interrupted his marriage and college studies as he joined the army and served overseas.” Norm joined the Army mid-marriage and served overseas during World War II. He and Betty were high school sweethearts at Marietta High before the war.

Church: “He was a man of strong faith, who was a deacon in the Sixth Street Church of Christ for many years.” Deacon at the Sixth Street Church of Christ in Marietta — the same Sixth Street whose 651 address Will and Peggy Eesley lived at. The Wolfes and the Eesleys were members of the same Sixth-Street-neighborhood church-and-family network.

Marietta-and-Florida arc: “Norm lived in his beloved city on the Ohio and Muskingum rivers for all but the last two years of his life.” So Norm and Betty moved to Florida c. 2013, two years before his 2015 death. Betty followed him in death six months and nine days later (18 July 2015). The Florida years were brief — a late-life relocation, not a long retirement.

The character note

The middle of the obituary is unusual: a paragraph that says “Much could be written here about Norm but he would not want that. He let the way he lived his life speak for itself.” The family then offers a list anyway: “he was an honest man of strong character; people considered his word and handshake as good as a signed piece of paper; a man devoted to his Lord and family; loyal to his many friends; and he had a kind word for most anyone he met.”

The closing line is the family’s own summary — the same handful of words this archive’s Norman page had to assemble from Chuck’s childhood memory:

“His was indeed a life well lived.”

The end of the obituary names the memorial service location: “A memorial service at the Sixth Street Church of Christ will be announced at a later date.” — the same church he was a deacon at.

Source: Marietta Times, 21 February 2015. Transmitted by Chuck Eesley 2026.