Born: January 10th, 1942 in Davenport, Iowa
Died: August 31st, 2020 in Phoenix, Arizona
Rich Wolfe passed away after a lengthy battle with cancer on August 31, 2020. Raised in Lost Nation, Iowa, Rich graduated from Davenport Assumption High School in 1960, and the University of Notre Dame in 1964.
Rich excelled at marketing – first with a successful business in New York City in the 60s, later working with minor league sports franchises in the Midwest in the 80s and 90s. In 1998, Rich wrote and published a biography about legendary baseball announcer Harry Caray. This would be the first of over fifty books which Rich churned out over the next two decades, the subjects of which were primarily sports teams, athletes, or sports personalities. His main criteria were that he was a fan of the subject matter (with the notable exception of the Chicago Cubs). In total, Rich has sold over a million books to date.
Throughout his life, Rich was very active in collegiate and sports communities throughout the Midwest, in particular Notre Dame football, St. Louis Cardinals baseball, and Iowa Hawkeye athletics. He was an integral part of Iowa Hawkeye and Notre Dame meetup groups in the Phoenix area, organizing and championing lunches up until his passing.
Relentlessly social, Rich made friends wherever he went – and he went a lot of places. In particular, he enjoyed group activities such as team trivia, which he played nearly every night with whatever friends he could convince to show up. Rich’s depth of trivia knowledge never ceased to amaze people, but he wasn’t interested in bringing attention to himself – rather, he enjoyed the camaraderie and winning as a team.
He was preceded in death by his parents: Melvin and Francis Wolfe, brothers: Paul Wolfe, Robert Wolfe and sister Patricia Higuera.
Rich was married to the former Mary Schepker. They had two sons – Richard Jr. and Tucker. Rich is also survived by his brother Dave (Tori) Wolfe; sister-in-law Kathy Wolfe and brother-in-law Gene Higuera, as well as numerous nieces and nephews. A special thanks goes to nephew/Godson Steve Wolfe and Kathy Schiano for their kindness and care in Rich’s final months.
The date and location of services is still to be determined, with the expectation there will be remembrances in both Phoenix, Arizona, as well as Quad Cities, Iowa in coming months.
Condolences and Hugs from Home may be expressed at www.whitneymurphyfuneralhome.com.
Kate Rangel
Rich Wolfe was one of the most interesting people to carry on a conversation with that I have known! As a fellow cardinal fan we text and conversed over the years about the team.
I know for a fact that he and my husband Joe are up there playing trivia games and watching the Cardinals as we speak!
Rich, you will be missed!
Sister-in-Law, Kate
Dick Panther
I will miss Rich because he was totally unique which was simply a part of his human nature.
There will never be another Rich (Dick) Wolfe My memory has set aside much room for him when I need to laugh or simply shake my head in disbelief of all the things he could do, would do, and did. I will always root for the Cardinals, Hawkeyes and of course my Fighting Irish right along with Rich.
R.I.P.
Whitney & Murphy
Rich has been a dear friend and fellow sports fan for many years. We enjoyed many fun times together attending Cubs spring training games together at Sloan Park in Mesa, etc. He will be sorely missed by me and many others. He had a great sense of humor. May he rest in peace!!
Mike Pruyn
Whitney & Murphy
Missing Rich and all of the fun times we had at trivia in Phoenix and Scottsdale. If you said yes to meet him on a Wednesday, he would try to get you to commit to Thursday, and Friday, etc.
He was a very good friend to me through the last 10 years that I knew him, and was always there to offer up assistance on a project, give a creative idea, or just make you laugh with his stories. He will be missed.
Karen Batenic
Peter Clark
I had the pleasure of getting to know Rich after initially meeting his brother, Bob, while living in CA. Rich was a fantastic promoter and truly one of the best “think outside the box” guys I’ve ever met. I always looked forward to our calls to talk publishing and what books we each were working on. Of course, we would inevitably end up talking Michigan/ND football or St. Louis Cardinals baseball. He made it up to Wisconsin for a visit a few years back … I’ll miss his friendship and sense of humor. My condolences to his entire family.
RIP Rich.
Paul (Skin) Crotty
First met Rich in 1961 when he was playing with my older brother Walter in the Cape Cod baseball league. The friendship carried on for decades and I was fortunate to be able to also call Rich my friend. If you remember Tucker, you, my son Kevin and I played golf at Cape Cod Country Club many years ago. Always enjoyed Rich’s stories. My son Kevin was always hypnotized by his yarns. Best wishes to family and friends. Rich was as unique as they come. RIP.
Michael Willinger
We were now just wondering about this guy we met in a unique way. We were sitting on our patio at Antelope Hills in Prescott, during a typical heavy summer afternoon rainstorm. Pretty soon three guys playing golf huddled under a nearby tree – getting soaked. We waved for them to get on the patio. One did – it was Rich. We spent quite some time laughing and chatting with one of the neatest people we’ve ever met. Rich was a delight. Being a Buckeye, we talked about them and his book, which we bought, and somehow we saw Rich again the next year and he autographed it. Patti and I felt as if we had a new friend within minutes if meeting. To his family, we’re sorry for your loss and that it took us so long to learn about our friend Rich. Truly a stranger only once. God bless him