Henry Ernest Wolfe Jr.

Henry (Hank) E. Wolfe, Jr. passed away at 1:00 p.m. on October 21, 2019 at 97 years young.  He resided in Champaign, IL.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 26, 2019 at Renner-Wikoff Chapel in Urbana. Burial will take place at Woodlawn Cemetery in Urbana with Military rites being performed by the Urbana American Legion Post #71 and the United States Navy Honor Guard. A visitation will be held from 5:30-7:00 p.m. on Friday, October 25, 2019 at the funeral home.

Henry was born in Binghamton, New York on August 17, 1922. He was the son of Henry E. Wolfe Sr. and Bess (Jones) Wolfe. He was preceded in death by both of his parents, two sisters; Corinne Gross and Chere Biddles and a step daughter Lesley Lohr.

He was blessed with three marriages, Jane (Slade), 1946, Joan (Ormiston), 1963 and Marion (Bigelow), 2004. All have preceded him in death.

He is survived by children; Adrienne (Kirk) Wible of Middleton, WI, Douglas (Lori) Wolfe of Denton, TX, Gary Wolfe of Champaign and Catherine (Kevin) Scudder of Gifford and grandchildren; Matthew Wolfe of Urbana, Shaelynn, Shaun and Shane Wolfe of Denton, TX.

He is further survived by stepchildren; Alan (Elizabeth) Bigelow, John (Arlene) Bigelow and Talman (Debra) Bigelow. Step grandchildren; Hadley Ziewlonka, Tyler and Kristen Bigelow, a niece, Deann (Tom) Knight and a very dear friend of many years, Beverly (West) Costello also survive him.

He had quick wit and a wonderful sense of humor.  Coined “Wolferisms”, he always had a pun or joke available for everyone with no encouragement required!  He had a great love for golf and enjoyed playing bridge with dear friends locally and in Florida where he spent many retirement winters.  He loved watching Chicago Cubs baseball and was so delighted in his lifetime to see them win the World Series.  He was a dedicated and passionate doctor to his patients and colleagues during his practice of many years at Carle Clinic.

Henry graduated from Binghamton, NY Central High School.  He graduated from Hamilton College.  He received his medical degree from Albany Medical College in Albany, NY in 1947.  He served his internship at St. Albans Naval Hospital from 1947-1948.  For the next two years, he served his residency in urology at St. Albans and New York Hospital Cornell Medical Center in New York City.  

His training was interrupted by service in the Korean War in 1950.  He was deployed to Korea on the naval ship USS Thomas Jefferson on April 30, 1950.  He took part in the Inchon landing that year.  After his return from Korea in 1954 he completed his residency in urology at the Oakland California Naval Hospital as chief of urology. He left naval service in 1956 with the rank of Commander USN.

In 1956, he joined Carle Clinic where he practiced urology and urology surgery with Dr. Robert Rowe.  He was certified by the American Board of Urology in 1958.  During his years with Carle Clinic, he served for a time as chief of urology as well as chief of staff for Carle Hospital Foundation.  He was a member of American Medical Association, American Urological Association and Illinois State Medical Society.  He was a diplomat of American College of Surgeons.  He dedicated his work life to his patients and retired from practice in 1991.

He was a member of the Urbana IL Chamber of Commerce serving as president in 1975.  He was a member of the Urbana IL Lions Club serving as president in 1965. He was a past member of Urbana IL Golf and Country Club.  He was a member of First Presbyterian Church Urbana, IL.

In lieu of flowers memorials can be made to Carle Center for Philanthropy, American Cancer Society or to a charity of one’s choice. 

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