Ralph William Wolfe

Ralph William Wolfe, 73, Columbia City, died peacefully at his home at 4:10 a.m. Wednesday, March 17, 2021.

He was born Sept. 8, 1947, in Fort Wayne, a son of the late Ralph Clifford Wolfe and Frances Ellen (Rockey) Wolfe. He completed elementary school in Columbia City and graduated from Columbia City Joint High School in 1965.

On June 7, 1964, he married Bonita “Bonnie” K. Miller. They made their home in Columbia City.

Employed by International Harvester, Fort Wayne, for over 30 years, they moved to Springfield, Ohio, in 1987 to continue his employment after the Fort Wayne plant’s closure. He retired in 2001 and began spending the winters in Leesburg, Fla. Doing campground maintenance in Florida, he did the same in the Warsaw area when they returned locally for the summer months. Moving to Auburn in 2011, he became an enthusiastic volunteer for the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Museum. In July of 2020, the couple moved to Columbia City.

An avid fisherman, he enjoyed fishing the local lakes whenever possible and made an annual fishing trip to Michigan. Keeping active around the house, he could be found tinkering with a repair or improvement project. Enjoying simple pleasures, he liked eating at Culver’s or the Coney Island. As his vocation was building IH trucks, he delighted in collecting toy trucks. A people person later in life, he frequented the local Y or hardware store just to converse with his friends and acquaintances. His grandchildren became his pride and joy attending their activities and even flying from Florida back to Indiana to be in attendance.

Surviving is his wife of 56 years, Bonnie; children, Jeanette (Doug) Herald, Shellie (Brian) Ball, both of Columbia City and Randall (Lorna) Wolfe of Larwill; eight grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; a sister, Susie Ness and a nephew Cory Ness of Columbia City.

The funeral service is 4 p.m. Sunday at Smith & Sons Funeral Home, Columbia City. The burial will be at 10 a.m. Monday at the Greenhill Cemetery. Visitation is 2 p.m. until the service Sunday at the funeral home.

Preferred memorials are to Parkview Home Health and Hospice or Rock Steady Boxing – Garrett.