Centenarian volunteer celebrated

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GREENVILLE — Lucy Wolfe will be the guest of honor Sunday at her 100th birthday party from 1 to 3 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church, 114 E. Fourth St., Greenville.

Daughter Becky said that anybody who wants to come to the party may do so. And in lieu of gifts, well-wishers may send her a card.

Wolfe was born Aug. 6, 1915, on a farm near Bradford. Soon after, her parents, the late Russell and Dana (Myers) Floyd, moved into Darke County.

A 1932 graduate of Gettysburg High School, she worked in Dayton and subsequently took a series of classes at Good Samaritan and earned her licensed practical nursing degree.

“I worked in all three hospitals in Dayton, Good Sam, Miami Valley and Grandview,” she said.

Among other jobs she has had is working in pharmacies, at Wagner’s Bakery in Greenville and at Jandy’s Toy Store in Dayton.

Husband Charles, better know by many as “Ed,” died in 1996.

“I met him in second grade,” she said. “He sat behind me in school.”

The couple was married in 1938, and have two children, Tim Wolfe and Becky Faircloth, as well as five grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

Her children attended school in the Northmont School District, which was originally Randolph in Englewood.

Has anyone else in the family lived as long?

“Great-grandfather Applegate. He was 103,” Wolfe replied.

She attributes her keeping busy to have lived so long.

“I just have an arthritic knee,” she said when asked about her health.

But, she doesn’t let that get in the way of her purpose in life.

At the age of 90, representing the Darke County chapter of the American Red Cross, she went to Key West, Florida, to help out in Hurricane Katrina, and, at 95, worked in a shelter in Memphis after a tornado hit.

It was her job to set up shelters for those families that were washed out of their own homes.

“I was down there for two or three weeks each time,” she said.

She is also a volunteer with Darke County Extension, two clubs in the Presbyterian Church, State of the Heart Hospice and Wayne Hospital [HealthCare].

And, she is the only one left in the now-defunct Grandmother’s Club that she belonged to in Greenville.

With Hospice, she visits shut-ins, both here and when she is in Florida. At the hospital, she helps out with the biennial jewelry sale and when and wherever else she is needed.

She also plans to be a the Great Darke County Fair this year, serving at the hospital and Red Cross tents.

In Dayton, she belonged on a bowling league, but never resumed that hobby here in Darke County.

In her spare time, she loves to read “good history” and, still driving, she goes to the library quite a bit.

“I like to read at night,” she said.

Her response when asked how it feels to be nearly 100, was “It’s crazy. I never thought I’d live this long because nobody else [on the family did except for my great-grandfather.”

She said she has her own cell phone but doesn’t have a computer.

“I never tried it,” she said.

When asked if she is ready for her party, Wolfe said, “Yes and no. I think there is going to be a lot of people.”

Son Tim said his parents moved back to the Greenville area after his father retired from NCR.

“That was the mid’80s at least,” he said.

Wolfe has instilled a lot of her traits into her children, according to family.

“She [Wolfe] and Tim are opinionated and hard workers,” said Tim’s wife Evelyn. “You don’t have to wonder what they’re thinking, you’ll know.”

“I was in Cub Scouts and Mom and another woman were scout mothers,” Tim said. “Dad and another guy start Little League.”

Daughter Becky replied, “She was the kind of woman who showed you doing things for other people is a good thing in life. She was a very involved as a mom. We were in band and chorus and she was a band parent and hauled kids to rehearsals. She encouraged us to get involved in the community.”

Becky went on, “She taught all the girls in the family, including grandchildren and great-grandchildren that women can be involved and make a good difference. She was a positive role model for the girls in the family, especially.”

Wolfe has an older brother, who is deceased, and a sister, Betty, living in Cincinnati.

https://www.dailyadvocate.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/web1_lucyreadingRGB.jpg
Lucy Wolfe lives life to the fullest

By Linda Moody

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