Teachers play such an important role in our lives. Long after we graduate, we are benefitting from their influence.

As most regular readers of this blog know, Sister Agnes of Sts. Peter and Paul School and Mary Turkovich of Monongah High School had a tremendous influence on my life and career. Sister Agnes imbued me with a love of words and Miss Turkovich – through her math, algebra and geometry classes – gave me a sound foundation to a successful financial situation.

I never met Blair Wolfe, but a Facebook thread about him made it clear that he was a “Miss Turkovich” to many former students.

His son, Tom Wolfe, whose post began the thread of Amens that followed from Blair Wolfe’s former students, put it best:

“Schools are the cornerstone of every community! Monongah is a great town where my dad Blair Wolfe taught school until the school burned down!”

Juanita Nickerson, who graduated from Monongah High, wrote a truism: “We need more math teachers like him. He was good.”

Blair Wolfe gave Greg Vandetta, Class of 1975, married to Monongahfest president Debbie Manzo Vandetta, Class of 1973, a good foundation, in both math and as his homeroom teacher, that led to a successful construction business and becoming the current mayor of Monongah.

Jim Foster, Class of 1971, married to Linda Phillips Foster, Class of 1977, chimed in with “I had him in junior high and found out later in life that he had been good friends with my granddad, Roy Headley,” who Tom Wolfe described as “ a character and one of dad’s buddies!”

Joy Damico, Class of 1977,l wrote: “Awww, I thought the world of Mr. Wolfe. He was truly an amazing man. I had him for homeroom, too.”

John Bissett concurred: “Mr. Wolfe was an amazing teacher.” John’s siblings are Roger Bissett of Fairmont, Danny Bissett of Enterprise, Nancy Bissett of Fairmont, Sarah Juanita Bissett Rollyson of Fairmont and, all predeceased, Gary Bissett, Edward Bissett, Jimmy Bissett, Sandra Bissett Summers and JoAnn Bissett Augustus.

Chris Martin, Class of 1970, Monongah’s #1 photographer, added: “Your mother (Emma Eleanor) and father were both great people.”

Linda Knobel-Carr‎, Class of 1967, married to former Monongah Councilman Sanford Carr, wrote: “He was my teacher, too; a wonderful man.”

Belinda Sheppard, Class of 1969, remembered: “I had him in junior high.”

Virgie Mae Harris, another Monongah High graduate, labeled Blair “A GREAT TEACHER.” The capital letters are the way she wrote it.

Debbie Moore O'Dell, Class of 1969, echoed the “great teacher” accolade.

Pete Basagic, Class of 1972, who married Cathy Martin Basagic, also a Monongah High grad, remembered that “He let me fish in his pond,” on land that was legendary for its scientific care.

Penny Nichols Freshwater, daughter of the late Lionel Nichols, called Blair Wolfe “A kind, gentle man as well as a good teacher.”

Sheila Mobley McCutcheon, another Monongah High grad, wrote that, “Because of him, I loved math in high school. I also loved Mr. Wolfe!”

Alceste Sissy Justice Powell, Class of 1974, married to Glenn Powell, had simiIar sentiments: “I loved Mr. Wolfe. He was a kind teacher.”

Jennifer Aldridge Payton, married to German native Mike Payton and daughter of Barbra Eller-Hanning, had another personal, but different, connection to Blair Wolfe: “My husband and I lived on Blair’s farm in the little brown house in 1999. He was a wonderful man.” By the way, Jennifer’s daughter, Aubrey Payton, is an excellent shot put and track dashes star at Monongah Middle School.

Greg Juni-Osborne Aldridge, although she’s a Morgantown High grad, called Blair “A great man and great teacher at Monongah Junior High.”

Susan Staron Sanders, Class of 1971, the angel of Thomas Street and the driving force behind the 21 Christmas street lights that brighten the holiday in Monongah, summed it up:  “He was a great teacher.”

Which nobody can deny.

Phillippi native Blair Wolfe taught math for 12 years at Monongah Junior High till his 1973 retirement. Previously, he taught at Kasson High School in Barbour County (seven subjects!) and then, after marrying Farmington’s Emma Eleanor Downs, moved to Marion County where he was an elementary principal who taught fifth and sixth grades at James Fork Elementary in Farmington’s No. 9 community and at Idamay Elementary.

He also was a lifelong agriculturalist. He bought a farm near Monongah and used scientific conservation practices to improve the land, winning Monongahela Soil Conservation District awards for his efforts. He was on the WVU Extension Advisory Committee.

Mr. Wolfe also developed a herd of polled Hereford cows. He belonged to the Mountaineer Beagle Club and was an avid hunter.

He was among the 10 children of Oliver Frances and Bunea Vista Lindsey Wolfe. Blair was born February 14, 1914. He married Emma in 1938 in Garrett County, Maryland. Emma passed away in 2003 after 64 years of marriage to Blair.

Bunea Vista Lindsey Wolfe was born September 28, 1873 to Mary Jane Colebank and Zachariah Nathaniel Lindsey. Bunea was reared on her parents’ farm near Knottsville. Bunea’s husband, Oliver Francis Wolfe, was born May 11, 1874 in
Macomber, West Virginia to Americus Jasper Wolfe and Mary Alice Bolyard Wolfe on November 29, 1894 in Taylor County.  

Oliver farmed in the Cove District of Barbour County and was a logger and a sawmill operator.

Bunea passed away in 1958 in Flemington, Taylor County. Oliver passed away in 1943 in Moatsville.

Tom Downs Wolfe of Callaway, Virginia is his Blair’s son. Blair’s grandson, Thomas Blair Wolfe, lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. So does Blair’s great-granddaughter, Anna-Marie Blair Wolfe.

Blair’s daughter, Diane Elizabeth Wolfe Johnson, lives in Greenville, Ohio, the same Darke County that produced legendary sharpshooter Annie Oakley (born Annie Mosey).

The other children of Bunea and Oliver were:

Dallas Dayton Wolfe, born 1895 in Colebank, West Virginia.  He married Marion Virginia Jones in 1928, daughter of Charles Philander Jones and Cora Myra Wilson. Marion was born in 1908 in Rowlesburg, West Virginia.

Dallas served in the Navy in World War I and was a millwright who served in the West Virginia House of Delegates and as a West Virginia State Senator. Marion died in 1970 in Grafton. Dallas remarried Gladys Marie McDaniel, who was born in Buckhannon. Dallas died in 1990 in Gassaway.

Delbert Lloyd Wolfe was born in 1897. He married Anna Simmons. Delbert died in  1966 in North Carolina and Anna died in 1975.

Mary Etta Wolfe was born in 1899. She married Nestor Carl Tobe Hardin. They had five children and they lived in Philippi. Mary died in 1945 and Nestor in 1962.

Opal Hazel Wolfe was born in 1909 and died in 1998 in Philippi. She married Fredrick Loar, who died in 1933. They had one child. After Fred died,  Opal married her deceased sister Mary Etta's former husband, Nestor Carl Tobe Hardin. After Nestor died, Opal married Paul Ludwick.

Dorwin Jasper Wolfe was born in 1901. He married Mary Madeline Moore. They had
four children. Dorwin died in 1993 in Elkins and Mary died in 1986.

Lindsey Allen Wolfe was born in 1904. He married Hazel Blanche Nestor. Lindsey died in 1985 in Moatsville and Hazel died in 1988.

Lelia Blanche Wolfe was born in 1906. She married Robert Lee Corder. Lelia died in 1993.

Francis Eldore Wolfe was born in 1911. He married Frances Irene Hinkins in 1934 in Oakland, Maryland. They had one child. Frances died in 1999 and Francis died in 2005, in Palm Harbor, Florida.

Caroline Jane Wolfe was born in 1920. She married Lester Donald Schnably.  Caroline and Lester had three children. After Lester passed away, Caroline married G. L. Cutlip. Caroline in 2008 in Clarksburg.

Blair was 92 when he passed away in 2006.

Blair Wolfe’s obituary:

Blair Wolfe

FAIRMONT — Blair Wolfe, retired Marion County educator and farmer, died December 27, 2006, at Monongalia General Hospital in Morgantown.

The 92-year-old began his 37-year teaching career at Kasson High School in Barbour County, where he taught seven subjects. In 1938, he married Eleanor Downs of Farmington and moved to Marion County, where he became an elementary principal and taught fifth and sixth grades at James Fork (No. 9) and Idamay elementary schools. He retired in 1973 after teaching mathematics for 12 years at Monongah Junior High School.

Wolfe was a lifelong agriculturalist. During his teaching career, he purchased a farm near Monongah and began improving the land using scientific conservation practices. He also developed a herd of polled Hereford beef cows.

As a Marion County farmer and cattleman, Blair Wolfe won awards for conservation in the Monongahela Soil Conservation District. He was an active supporter of the 4-H program and other educational efforts of West Virginia University Extension.

He served for many years on the Extension Advisory Committee and was active in the Marion County Farm Bureau. He served as the organization’s president for several years. He was also a member of the Mountaineer Beagle Club and an avid hunter.

Blair Wolfe was born in Philippi, West Virginia, to Oliver Frances and Bunea Vista Lindsey Wolfe on February 14, 1914. He was the youngest of six sons and had four sisters.

The Wolfe brothers included Dallas Wolfe of Rowlesburg, Delbert Wolfe of Grafton, Dorwin Wolfe and Lindsey Wolfe both of Moatsville, and Francis Wolfe of Clearwater, Florida. All of his brothers preceded him in death. His deceased sisters include Mary Hardin of Slatyfork, Lelia Corder of Brushy Fork and Opal Ludwick of Philippi.

Mr. Wolfe is survived by his youngest sister, Caroline Cutlip of Bridgeport, his two children, Thomas Downs Wolfe of Callaway, Virginia, and Diane Elizabeth (Wolfe) Johnson and son-in-law, James Johnson of Greenville, Ohio. His grandchildren include: Janet Leigh Osborne, Hardy, Virginia, Thomas Blair Wolfe, of Charlotte, North Carolina, Meredeth Anne Johnson, Fairmont, and Sarah Elizabeth Johnson, Columbus, Ohio, stepgrandchildren, Douglas Johnson of Farmington, New Mexico, and Melissa Radcliff of Albuquerque, New Mexico; great-grandchildren, Hunter Osborne, Hardy, Virginia, and Anna-Marie Blair Wolfe, Charlotte, North Carolina. He is also survived by many wonderful nieces and nephews.

Mr. Wolfe was preceded in death by his wife of 64 years, Emma Eleanor Downs Wolfe, his granddaughter, Brenda Sue Wolfe, and daughter-in-law, Dora Toothman Wolfe.

Blair Wolfe has been affiliated with the Masonic Lodge since 1937. He is a member of the Mannington A.F. & A.M. Lodge No. 31, the Knights Templar, Scottish Rite of Clarksburg and the Osiris Shrine of Wheeling.

Friends and family will remember Blair Wolfe as a storyteller, a teacher, a role model, a disciplinarian, a man with an aptitude for mathematics and a love of poetry and a man who loved the land and took great pride in his stewardship of it. He was a loved husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle and friend.

Friends and family may call on Saturday from 1-8 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 1 p.m. at the Carpenter and Ford Funeral Home, 209 Merchant Street in Fairmont.

Funeral services will be at 1 p.m. on Sunday, December 31, 2006, at the funeral home with Rev. Basil Hensley officiating. Burial will take place at the Locust Grove Cemetery near Kasson, WV, in Barbour County. Masonic graveside rites will be conducted by the Mannington Lodge No. 51.

Donations may be made to the Shriners Hospital for Children, 645 West 8th Street, Erie, Pennsylvania 16505-5097

Condolences can be sent to: carpford@verizon.net 

Carpenter and Ford Funeral Home.

After reading this original article, Blair Wolfe’s son, Tom, added:

“John:

“Thanks for the tribute to my Father and my family. Dad and three of his brothers were schoolteachers as were all of their wives. His sister Opal was a nurse and sister Caroline was an Extension Agent. The brothers and sisters helped each other get college educated. Most were graduates of Fairmont State College. Education was a very important part of their lives.

“There was no question that my sister and I were going to college. Both of us graduated from WVU. Diane graduated with a degree in Home Economics and my degree was in Animal Science. Both of us were Extension Agents, she in Ohio and I worked in Virginia. This is another example of young people going outside West Virginia. So sad!

“Thanks again.

“Tom Wolfe!”