I just received word that Harvey Wolf passed away last Monday. My readers will know him as the guy with the big beard that ran, with his wife Barbara, Wolf’s Head Books – and exhibited at the national genealogy conferences around the country. Harvey was one of my favorite people and I always looked forward to our conversations when we would meet. I have purchased many wonderful titles from Harvey and Barbara over the years. I’m really going to miss the guy.
Barbara says that she will be at the NGS Conference in Salt Lake City later this month. She’s planning to fly out while Michael Theeke will drive the van loaded with their books and pamphlets.
Following is Harvey’s obituary – from the St. Augustine Record:
Harvey Jay Wolf, 74, passed away on March 29, 2010, at home. He was born on May 5, 1935, to
Nathan and Rosalind Schein Wolf in Detroit, Mich. He attended 11 colleges and universities including West Point, and served in the U.S. Army. He earned his doctorate of public administration degree at the University of Southern California.
Harvey had three distinct careers: physicist in the aerospace industry, professor of public administration at West Virginia University (Go Mountaineers!!!), and was co-owner of Wolf”s Head Books in St. Augustine. He was pleased to be a member of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America and to be on the board of the Miami Book Fair International.
He is survived by his wife, Barbara E. Nailler; son, David (Lori) Wolf,; granddaughters, Sara and Emily Wolf; brother, Jerrold (Linda Duarte) Wolf; sister-in-law, Luci (Joe) Satterelli; brother-in-law, Pete (Patti) Casteel; nephews, Russell, Steve and Andy Wolf, Michael, Patrick, Adam, and Arik Theeke, Tony Satterelli; and nieces, Alysha Calderon, Lorika Archibald, Dana Johnson and Jill Mason. He was preceded in death by his parents and his beloved dog, Wanda.
Harvey donated his body for medical research. At his request, a party will be held at 4 p.m. on Thursday, April 1, 2010, at the South Ponte Vedra Civic Center on A1A North, seven miles north of the Vilano Bridge. In lieu of flowers donations in his memory can be made to: H.A.W.K.E., P.O. Box 188, Elkton, FL 32033, Betty Griffin House, 1375 Arapaho Ave., St. Augustine, FL 32084, or to Community Hospice of N.E. Florida, 4266 Sunbeam Road, Jacksonville, FL 32257.St. Johns Family Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
As a 1982 graduate of the West Virginia University Public Administration Master’s degree program, I was surprised to learnof the passing of Professor Harvey Wolf. I and many other students at West Virginia University had Dr/ Wolf’s research course. I also knew him from the Morgantown, WV community. Harvey was often unconventional, always fun to converse with and always insightful. His provoativeness , I believe, added to his charisma and endeared him to many student s and non-students. He was a memorable individual who shared his life expereinces to teach others from what he had learned. He made Motrgantown, WV and West Virginia University a better place through his presence and contributions. Please accept my condolences on his passing. He will long be remembered as a favorite of many.
P’S’/ Please permit me to share this goggled page content with some of his Morgantown friends and colleagues. There has been no notice of his passing in the Morgantown, WV Dominion-Post daily newspaper.
Thanks for the comments. Please pass the word along…
I knew Harvey Wolf long before he started his book store “Wolf’s Head Books.”
In fact, I bought (rare) books from him at his living room. The first one was a fine copy of an 1811 edition of Lucretius’ De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things), a poetic work that helped popularize the atomic theory. Harvey’s Morgantown WV store was sold to Mike Abshire and he in turn sold it to Gail Martin. In 1999 I acquired and then moved more than 20,000 books and tons of beautiful bookcases to a beautiful 16 room house we have in Marion County, WV which was built in 1860 and is now on the National Register of Historic Houses. Besides all this, we have two other old houses here and a total of 60,000 books! But we are not selling now, just collecting . . . and reading! Harvey and Barbara helped me acquire many rare mathematics books from here and abroad. Harvey was a remarkable guy and I shall always treasure the pleasure of having known him for so many years. Henry Gould
Aarrgghh! I just discovered this page while planning a trip to Florida to see one of the last space shuttle launches; was planning to stop at the St. Augustine store and say ‘hi’. Here it is going on a year later, yet somehow, I had not heard this sad news in Morgantown. I miss the Morgantown store very much — used to browse there frequently to unwind, beginning in 1983 when I started grad school. Dr. Wolf was a great guy … very interesting, always friendly. And gosh, he seemed to know every single book in the store! I remember him, Barbara, and the store quite fondly.