Obituary of John Wolf

John Wolf November 16, 1922 - October 02, 2012 Long-time Lea County resident John Wolf of Crossroads passed away October 2, 2012 at the Good Samaritan Society home in Lovington. A memorial service will take place Thursday, October 11 at 2 p.m. at the Lovington Masonic Lodge Hall at 106 W. Washington. Wolf was born Nov. 16, 1922 in Cleveland, Ohio and left home during the Depression years to work as a cowboy on ranches in Texas and New Mexico east of the El Paso area prior to, and after military service in World War II. During the war Wolf served in the Marines and saw action in four major Pacific campaigns including the battle on Iwo Jima, during which he was an eyewitness to the flag-raising on Mount Suribachi, Feb. 23, 1945. In the late 1940’s Wolf worked on ranches in Lea County, namely the Lane and Underwood ranches in the northern part of the county. In 1949 he married Barbara E. Klein, also from Ohio. In 1954 the couple moved to Crossroads where they purchased a package store from Henry Reid. The Wolfs ran the Wolf Bar and Package store until 1976 when they sold the license and John Wolf began work in the oil field as a truck driver and dispatcher. In the late 1970’s John Wolf began rebuilding chuck wagons, buggies and horse-drawn conveyances. Wolf Wagon Works was established as a business in 1979. The Wagon Works was run by John and Barbara (Bobbie) Wolf until 1994 when it was sold to Douglas Vitt of California. Wolf stayed on as a consultant and contract-worker until 2005 when the business was re-sold and the equipment moved to Wagon Mound, NM. In his declining years, John Wolf made spurs, walking canes, and traveled to cowboy symposiums and Western trade shows. He was a faithful Mason and was Past Master of Lovington Lodge #46 serving in 1975. He was also a member of York Rite and Scottish Rite. John was preceded in death by his wife in 2008, and is survived by his son Bill, 53, who works as a substitute teacher in the Lovington school system.