Bill Wolfe

Bill Wolfe passed away on Wednesday, May 30, 2012, at the Mercy Medical Center–West Lakes in West Des Moines, Iowa.

Funeral and Masonic Services: Will be held on Saturday, June 2, 2012, at 10:00 a.m. at the First Presbyterian Church in Greenfield with burial in the Greenfield Cemetery. Pastor David Kincaide will officiate the service.  The Greenfield Crusade Lodge No. 386 A.F. & A.M. will conduct the Masonic Service.

Visitation: Will be held on Friday, June 1st, from 2:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. with the family greeting friends from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Steen Funeral Home in Greenfield.

Memorials: To the Bill Wolfe memorial fund to be established by the family.

Elmer William Wolfe was born October 9, 1922, to Ellis William and Elizabeth Ellen (Peers) Wolfe in Greenfield, IA and passed away May 30, 2012.

Bill graduated from Greenfield High School in 1941. Bill farmed with his brother, LeRoy, on the family farm his entire life. After his brother passed away, Bill continued to farm with his nephew, Steven. He truly enjoyed working the land side by side with his brother and with his nephew.

Bill married Mary Christine Brown on April 5, 1968, at the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Des Moines. They were the parents of one daughter, Robin Christine. Bill was a lifelong resident of Adair County until February 2012, when he moved to Kennybrook Village in Grimes to be near his daughter and family.

Bill was a life time member of the First Presbyterian Church in Greenfield where he served as a church elder and regularly attended for many years.

Bill was a member of the Greenfield Crusade Lodge No. 386 and became a 50-year member in 2007. Bill was also a member of the Des Moines Scottish Rite and Consistory. Bill was a kind and gentle man and lived the principles of the Masonic Order.

After retirement, Bill continued to make daily trips to Greenfield to the farm to check the crops and the cattle. He also enjoyed drinking coffee in the morning at the Greenfield Co-op with the other farmers. He loved spending some of the winter months with his sister, Ethelyn, in California, and loved traveling with his family. He always loved to go, but looked forward to getting back home. He had a special place in his heart for his two grandchildren, Miles Christopher and Lauren Ellen. He waited a long time to become a grandparent. As long as it was possible, he attended their ballgames, school and church programs and birthday events. He taught Miles to mow grass using the riding lawn mower at the farm and both children loved to ride with grandpa in his little brown pickup. The visits of Chad and Robin and the grandchildren were gifts of joy to Bill.

Bill was preceded in death by his wife, Mary Christine, (October 4, 1997); his parents, Ellis William and Elizabeth; his brother, LeRoy (1984); sister-in-law, Lorene (1978); and brothers-in-law, Don Rhodes (1984) and Floyd Harris (1979).

He is survived by his daughter, Robin Wyllie, and husband, Chad; grandchildren, Miles and Lauren, all of Grimes; sisters Ethelyn Rhodes of Irvine, California and Mildred Harris of Greenfield. Nephews Darryl (Carole) Rhodes and Steven (Linda) Wolfe, and nieces Donna Rae Rhodes, Linda (Phil) Fauquet, Royann (Norm) Burgher, Janice (Doug) Wolfe as well as other relatives and friends.