Melvin H. Wolf died December 2, 2007, at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City. He was 83. He was born in Des Moines. He attended the New Mexico Military Institute and served in the Air Force in World War II. He earned his undergraduate and law degrees at the University of Iowa. There he also met his future wife, Lois Hankin of Milwaukee, and they married while he was an Iowa law student. The Wolfs moved to Waterloo in the late 1940s, where together they raised three daughters, and Mel practiced law for fifty years. He also served as a mental health commitment referee prior to his retirement from the general practice of law. For much of his life he was active in state Democratic politics. He served in the Iowa State Senate in the 1960s and also ran for lieutenant governor. Governor Harold E. Hughes appointed him to the State Board of Regents, where he served for many years governing Iowa's public universities and special schools. He was active as a volunteer and donor in local politics and served as president of the local Civil Liberties Union. Mel Wolf is remembered as a generous supporter of all good causes.
He will be sorely missed by family and friends as the goodhearted curmudgeon he had become in later years. He is survived by Lois, his wife of sixty-one years, and daughters, Marna (David) Orren of Eagan, Minnesota, and Caryn of Waukee. He was predeceased by his daughter Dale; his brother Warren James (Jim) Wolf; and his parents, Michael and Sarah (Sally) Wolf. Funeral service will be at 11 a m Friday at the Sons of Jacob Synagogue with burial in the Beth Olem Section of Waterloo Memorial Park Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the Sons of Jacob Synagogue or the donor's choice. Hagarty-Waychoff-Grarup Funeral Service on West Ridgeway is in charge of arrangements.
Copyright Waterloo Courier, December 5, 2007, page A8.