Martin William Wolfe
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Were the facts of his life fiction, these words would reflect concluding thoughts after the final chapter of a literary work of art. They summarize the story of the man in this tale, Martin W. Wolfe. To know him was to have known Rick Blain, Atticus Finch and The Old Man and the Sea.
Born February 25, 1927 in Brooklyn, New York, to Harry and Pauline Wolfe, Marty was the baby of the family, adored by his sisters Helma, who predeceased him, and Gerry who survives him at 102. Marty was a precocious kid who played stick ball in the street, hand ball at the park and had the only dog in the neighborhood with a charge account at the candy store.
After his Bar-Mitzvah in 1940, Marty's concern turned to the turmoil of World War II. At 16, he joined the Navy so as "not to miss the war". He served in the Atlantic as a quartermaster and became a part of the Greatest Generation.
Upon discharge, Marty attended the University of Georgia. He began in 1947 at the Savannah branch. After a semester, Marty transferred to the campus in Athens. His major was business administration and he graduated Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi in two-and one-half years. It was during his first year, however, that "the most fortuitous event in his life occurred". Marty met Naomi Saye and it was love at first sight. Naomi felt the same about Marty, and they were married in a small Synagogue in Athens on March 11, 1950. Shortly thereafter, they left for Ocean Avenue in Brooklyn, New York.
Upon his return, Marty, his dad and brothers in law formed Harry H. Wolfe and Sons, in Manhattan. It was a coffee roasting and packing business which eventually became the largest "trade roasting" outfit in the country. Marty was called to the Korean War shortly after the birth of Rhonda Beth in February 1951. After discharge, he returned to Naomi, had two more children, Larry David, (May 1953) and Mark Reed, (January 1955), and bought a home on Long Island.
In 1960, as if Horace Greeley was speaking to him, Marty went west. He packed the family's 1959 Dodge Custom Royal and set out for California. His time there included business ventures as a restaurateur and in 1964, Marty took a job with Marion Laboratories in Pharmaceutical sales. He quickly rose to West Coast Sales Advisor and in 1968 he was transferred to Stamford Connecticut to become the East Coast Sales Advisor. Years later, Marty returned to Harry H. Wolfe and Sons, where he stayed until retirement in 1982.
After traveling extensively, Marty and Naomi moved to North Carolina in 1983. He had purchased a ranch there with 750 head of cattle. Marty always wanted to be a cowboy and had the pleasure of working the ranch for 18 months.
In 1984, Marty and Naomi moved to Atlanta where they built a home and lived until Naomi left us in October, 2021. Over their 72 years Marty and Naomi welcomed seven grandchildren and nine great grandchildren to the family. Marty loved his own children with all of his heart and he loved their spouses, Jeff Nachamkin, Patterson Wolfe and Rosalie Wolfe just as much, taking pride in them as if they were his own.
With his passing Marty is not lost to us, he touched the hearts of too many people to ever be forgotten. Instead, we like to think he is off to his next adventure, remembering what he always said to us when he would depart: "Until we meet again, Adios".