Robert Stanley Wolff

ST. JAMES, N.C. - Robert Stanley Wolff, 82, died on Monday, Oct. 22, 2007, at the Kate B. Reynolds Hospice Home in Winston-Salem, surrounded by his family.

Son of Curtis and Florence Smoot Wolff, Bob was born at home in Rhodesdale, on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, the youngest of three children. He grew up on a farm in this rural community, attended the one-room Wheatley School and later graduated from Hurlock Senior High School, in Hurlock, Md.

He attended Duke University from 1942-49, receiving his Bachelor of Arts in 1947, and his Juris Doctor in 1949. As a freshman, he entered Navy ROTC and completed his training duty in Florida and on Oak Island, during summer semesters. It was at Duke that he met his future wife, Shirley Keel, of Forest Hills, N.Y.; they married in 1948.

Bob took his first job after law school with the American Arbitration Association overlooking Rockefeller Center in New York City. In the spring of 1952, he accepted a position with John Deere & Co. in Moline, Ill., and became director of Industrial Relations.

He, Shirley, and his daughter, Susan, lived in Moline and then the Oak Hills community in Rock Island, Ill., for the next 18 years. From 1970-71, Bob worked for Litton Industries in Milwaukee as vice president for Industrial Relations, while living alongside Lake Michigan (he had a sailboat!) in the community of Fox Point.

He next worked for Simplicity Pattern Co. in Niles, Mich., from 1973-75 before accepting a position in 1976 with Wolverine World Wide Inc., home of Hush Puppies Shoes, based in Rockford, Mich. Bob and Shirley lived in Grand Rapids and then in nearby Ada before retiring to St. James Plantation in Southport, in 1992. Bob was one of the earliest residents of this community and served as the first elected president of the St. James POA.

In addition to his interests in politics, history, choral singing and reading, Bob was an avid golfer to the last, always practicing to improve his game. He and Shirley shared a passion for Duke basketball, and most especially, for travel, taking many trips together to South and Central America, Europe, Asia and Australia, as well as to visit friends and family across Canada and the states. Bob's family will always appreciate the miles of movie film and video tape that he doggedly shot (despite much protesting!), capturing most family gatherings and events.

Bob was preceded in death by his wife of 57 years, Shirley Keel Wolff, and his brother, Vance R. Wolff, of Walterboro, S.C.

He is survived by his daughter, Susan and son-in-law, Dr. Mark Andrews of Winston-Salem; his sister, Doris E. Wolff of Rhodesdale; three grandchildren, Peter Alexis Andrews of San Francisco, Megan Elizabeth Andrews of Raleigh, N.C. and Laura Tilley Andrews of Winston-Salem; a niece, Janet Wolff Lorin of Walterboro, S.C.; a nephew, David A. Wolff, of Cordova, Tenn.; a sister-in-law, Mrs. Thomas H. Keel of Lyme, Conn., and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins in Canada, Connecticut, New England, Maryland, South Carolina and Tennessee.

A memorial service celebrating Bob's life will be held at St. James Chapel in St. James at 2 p.m. on Nov. 10 with the Rev. Dr. William E. Smith officiating. Committal of ashes will be in the Galestown Cemetery, Galestown, Md.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Skin Cancer Foundation, 149 Madison Ave., Suite 901, New York, NY 10016, Hospice & Palliative Carecenter, 101 Hospice Lane, Winston-Salem, NC 27103, the Brunswick County Library, 109 W. Moore St., Southport, NC 28461, or a favorite charity.