Charles Franklin “Chuck” Wolfe, CDR USNR(Ret.), passed peacefully at home on the morning of February 24, 2023. He was fifty five years young, which is far too young for this sort of thing. On his last day on earth, it was bright, sunny and warm. He was surrounded by his family who made beautiful music just for him and prayed that he would be at peace after eight and a half months of suffering from brain cancer.

He is survived by his “favorite first wife” Cindy (Brecht) Wolfe and his two wonderful sons, John Charles Wolfe and Christopher James Wolfe. He is also survived by his mother, Mary Wolfe who currently resides at Otterbein and three sisters, Cathy (Keith) Klewer, of Oregon, Ohio, Joan (Randy) Faneuff of Clyde, Ohio, and Barb (Michael) Pappas of Oregon, Ohio, as well as many nieces and nephews. Chuck leaves a wide circle of friends from many walks of life who will miss him dearly.

Born to John G. and Mary (Rossfeld) Wolfe on March 30th, 1967, in Lima, Ohio, Chuck lived in Oregon, Ohio during the formative years of his life. He was active in Boy Scout Troop 1666, with whom he went hiking at Philmont ranch in New Mexico and earned the rank of Eagle Scout in 1985. He attended Clay High School, performing in theatrical productions and playing trumpet in the marching band, until his senior year when his family moved to nearby Bedford, Ohio where he graduated from Bedford High School in the class of 1985. He attended The Ohio State University, where he studied Architecture, trained with the Navy ROTC, and met the woman who was to become his wife. Upon graduation, he was commissioned as a Reserve Officer in the United States Navy and, after marrying Cindy on June 16th, 1990, he served three years on Active Duty. His service took him to San Diego, CA and Agana, Guam where his first son, John, was born in May of 1991 while he was underway on the USS Haleakala during Operation Desert Storm/ Desert Shield.

After living in a tropical paradise, Chuck was unwilling to return to Ohio winters and selected Raleigh, North Carolina to be his family’s home. His second son, Christopher, was born in December of 1995, and the next year Chuck enrolled at NC State University for his Masters in Civil Engineering. As a project manager for Clancy and Theys, Chhabra, and several other construction companies, Chuck supervised and directed the construction of buildings across the state and left his permanent mark on the skylines of several cities in North Carolina. He left the construction industry in 2018 and moved into the education realm as the Officer In Charge of the Navy Junior ROTC unit at Union Pines High School, teaching the cadets naval and military history, as well as many life lessons related to military service. In June 2020, Chuck was excited to accept the position as Director/Instructor of the Wake Tech Community College Construction Management Technologies Program. He finally achieved a work life balance that fulfilled him in a way no other job had done.

Despite working full-time, raising a family, and serving his country part-time as a US Navy Reservist, Chuck still managed to give special attention and care to his church, St. Philip Lutheran Church. He served on the property committee and shared his talent for music by playing trumpet, singing, and playing guitar at The Crossing services. He was relentlessly active in the church’s two chartered Boy Scout groups, Pack 375 and Troop 342, serving as Cubmaster, Scoutmaster, Troop Committee Chair, Life to Eagle Chair including Eagle Scout Boards, Pinewood Derby Chairman, and as a several-time Woodbadge staff member. Both of his boys earned their Eagle Scout Award from that troop, and Chuck was directly responsible for launching many more Eagle Scouts and shaping young men into upstanding members of the community. He led by example and lived the Scout Oath and Law in his everyday life. He was also a member of the Freemasons and was a Third Degree Mason.

In 2012 when his country needed him again, he was recalled to Active Duty to serve in Afghanistan as Assistant Officer in Charge for the Navy’s NAVCENT Forward Headquarters in Kandahar during Operation Enduring Freedom. After a year at war overseas, he returned home but soon found himself back on Active Duty stationed in Norfolk, VA working as the US counterpart to his previous role while in Afghanistan. He spent two more years as a reservist until he retired in January of 2015 after 24 years of service in the U. S. Navy Reserves. Throughout the course of his distinguished military career he earned the rank of Commander, served in two wars, was awarded the Navy Achievement medal, the Navy Commendation medal, the Bronze Star and also earned his place as an Honored Shellback.

One other thing he brought back from Afghanistan was an exposure to toxic chemicals that lay dormant in him for nearly a decade. The evening of June 2nd, 2022, when he was in the best shape of his life with a weekly exercise regime enough to make a younger man tremble, he drove to a Durham Bulls baseball game, drank a beer, raced his wife and their friends up four flights of stairs and grinned triumphant at the top, not even breathless. At 4:10 a.m. the morning of June 3rd, 2022, he suffered two grand mal seizures and was taken to WakeMed Hospital, where it was discovered he had a tumor in his brain the size of a grape. A biopsy revealed it was a particularly aggressive and rare form of brain cancer called Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM), which is found among veterans at a higher rate than among the civilian population. For the next eight and a half months, as his health slowly deteriorated, he was inundated with love and support from the wide community he had cultivated. His many friends were exceedingly generous with gifts of food for the family, of giving their time to visit, of making music, and of checking in and supporting his wife during his later days when his presence on earth was fading.

Chuck was an avid outdoorsman, a fisherman and hunter, a hiker and camper, who was happiest when he was in the woods or watching the “caveman television” of a campfire, especially when that time involved spending time with his sons. He was a devoted husband, a loving father, an intrepid leader, and a good and honest man. He was very proud of the young men his sons had turned out to be, not only for their accomplishments, but for their outstanding character. Chuck also loved sharing his wicked sense of humor with his sons, often quoting movies, telling or texting jokes with them, and sharing a drink around the fire pit having great conversations. His presence will be greatly missed by all who knew him. The ripples he has caused through his service and mentoring in the world will continue to reverberate for many years to come.

A Visitation will be held on Thursday, March 9th, from 4-8 pm in the Luther Hall at St. Philip Lutheran Church located at 7304 Falls Of Neuse Road, Raleigh NC 27615. Funeral Services with Military Honors will be held Friday, March 10th at 11 am in the sanctuary of St. Philip Lutheran Church, followed by a luncheon. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in his memory to the Occoneechee Council of the Boy Scouts of America , the USO, or to the Glioblastoma Research Organization. To honor his memory, raise a glass of good beer the next time you sit around a campfire and look up to the stars.

The funeral was streamed live and can be viewed by: click here