Obituary of C. Rodney Wolfe

WOLFE, C. RODNEY January 17, 1925 �" November 4, 2010 C. Rodney Wolfe (85 years old) passed away peacefully on November 4, 2010 surrounded by his children at Northern Idaho Advanced Care Hospital (NIACH) in Post Falls, Idaho. Rodney was involved in a single vehicle accident on the St. Joe River Road near St. Maries, Idaho October 18th. He was transported to Kootenai Medical Center and then to NIACH where serious injuries and medical complications resulted in his death. He was born January 17, 1925, in Spokane, Washington, to Prentice Clarence Wolfe and Letitia Emelia Warren Wolfe, residents of St. Maries, Idaho. He attended St. Maries High School and joined the United States Military to serve during World War II. He was deployed to Guadalcanal and served in the 798th Forestry Engineers logging unit until the end of the war. C. Rodney returned from his military service to live in St. Maries and was married to Betty Carey in 1946. Together they had four children. Rodney enjoyed hunting, and fishing. He worked as a lumberjack in St. Maries and became even more familiar with every part of the St. Joe National Forest. In 1956 he leveled the ground and built a lodge called "The Big Eddy", where he started a hunting and fishing guide service and restaurant with his wife and partner Betty. Winter customer flow was too limited to support the business and Rod went back to the woods to log again. A few years down the road a when logging accident temporarily disabled him and the family moved to the Tri-Cities area where he worked for Hanford. Later the family moved to Pendleton, Oregon and Rodney started a "Culligan Man" business selling and installing soft water conditioners in Umatilla County. In 1967 Rodney returned to his beloved St. Joe Valley to help attend to his aging mother, Letitia Wolfe, and was employed by Potlatch Corporation. Later his wife, Betty and only remaining child at home, Annette joined him. During the 1970's, while working at the Potlatch Mill in the Boiler room, Rodney started writing an article for the local newspaper, The St. Maries Gazette Record. Many enjoyed his weekly feature titled Huntin', Fishin' and Lyin'. His favorite article was "The Side Hill Wampus Cat." Rod enjoyed teaching youth how to tie dry flies for fly-fishing and he taught many of his grandchildren and others how to fly fish on the St. Joe River. It should be noted that Rodney was a dry fly fisherman purist, supporter of barbless hooks and catch and release fishing on the St. Joe River. He was an expert fisherman of trout and kokanee fish. He started a business called St. Joe Dry Flies and took great pleasure handing out his business card claiming that he was the Best Hunter, Greatest Fisherman and Best Dam* Liar in the St. Joe Valley. In his later life he was referred to as "Old Man River" and "starred" in a few PBS television specials regarding fly fishing and the St. Joe River. In 1998 Rodney was proud to be published in a book titled Trout Flies of the West for inventing seven dry flies. He was also featured in many newspaper and magazine articles especially enjoying those written by his pal, Ralph Bartholdt. C. Rodney will be missed and remembered fondly by all whom knew him as a father, grandfather, uncle, great uncle, friend, fisherman, hunter and storyteller extraordinaire. He is survived by his four children, daughter, Ramona Wolfe Christensen of St. Maries and Coeur d'Alene; son, Rodney A Wolfe and Donella Hartman of St. Maries; daughter Cheryl Wolfe Materne and Richard Materne of Spokane, Washington, daughter; Annette Wolfe Brandvold and Ralph Brandvold Jr. of Coeur d'Alene and the mother of his children, Betty J. McKenna of Coeur d'Alene. Rodney also leaves a legacy of 12 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren. He was a great father, strong supporter of the annual Wolfe family reunion, true entertainer, B.S.er and advocate for the preservation of the St. Joe National Forest and St. Joe River. C Rodney was predeceased by his siblings Donna Wolfe Summer, Marian Wolfe Pentland, Warren P. Wolfe, Rayma Wolfe Hathaway and Grandson, Jamie Skeen. Services will be held at Hodge Funeral Home November 11, at 10 a.m. to be followed by interment at the Woodland Cemetery and a lunch buffet at the Elks Lodge in St. Maries, Idaho Read C. Wolfe's Obituary and Guestbook on www.hodgefuneralhome.com.