Memories of Randy

Hello, Nate.

 

    I am finding it difficult to pin down any one specific memory of your father (Randy) since there are so, so many that I have. I don't know if he would have ever have claimed me to be his "best friend," but he was certainly mine. Especially during our time together in high school, college, and our early 20s. I can remember first getting to know Randy in high school while sitting a row below him in the Greenhills High School  lecture room known as "The Pit." I was a junior and he a sophomore. We got to talking, and before too long, we were fast friends. He was responsible for introducing me to the close circle of friends that are often referred to by some as the "Greenhills Mafia" or "The Greenhills Gang" that I have had all these 34+ years. I thank him for that.

 

    The summers off from school seemingly lasted forever back then. I can remember spending many an afternoon at the Wolf house on Lochrest Drive which always seemed to be a hive of boyhood activity, especially with three boys so close in age. We all somehow kept out of serious trouble and have some warm memories of that time as a result. One of those memories was playing our very own brand of softball on the mythical and hallowed ground of "Maisel Field." A place of legend, this was a ball field of unique proportion located in the backyard of Randy's next door neighbor, John Maisel. We scraped up enough guys to field teams and played ball for what seemed to be all day long. Well, all summers eventually end and eventually so did high school. I shipped off to art school in Pittsburgh in the Fall of 1982 while Randy finished his senior year at GHS. We would exchange some funny handwritten letters from time to time that I wish I had saved. But, one day while in Pittsburgh, out of the clear blue, I received a small package in the mail from none other than the one and only, Randy Wolf. I opened it, and found inside, a commemorative autographed baseball from "Maisel Field." Randy and John Maisel's signatures adorned the Rawlings "Official League" baseball along with some humorous quips from John and Randy. It made my day! Randy took the time to be creative and think of me by sending me a piece of home. It was a small gesture, but meant a great deal to me. So much so, that I have kept this baseball as one my prized possessions to this day. (see photo) You can see the signature of your father and the quote, "This will be worth some money some day," with an arrow pointing up to his name. It is, and forever will be, worth more than any amount of money to me. It represents a great boyhood friendship with someone who became a great man and an even greater father to his children. I am so very proud to have had your father as a close friend and treasure the memories I have of time spent with him. They make me smile.

 

If your father had ever talked to you about me, I am sure whatever he had to say was prefaced by a comment of me being a man of very few words. We once took a road trip together to Florida in our early twenties and visited his cousin at her beachside apartment who after a day around me sarcastically tagged me with the name "Johnny Carson" because I so seldom spoke. Johnny Carson of course being a talkative late night TV talk show of the time. Randy would often rib me with that when I was being quiet. Well, contrary to that sentiment, I sure hope I haven't run on too long with this post.

 

Thanks, Nate.

    

 

Andy Tucker
andyltuck@aol.com

Spring Break - Mike Lorenz

Nate,

Thanks for putting together this blog to remember your Dad.  I have some great memories of Randy on Spring Break.  The photo on the left is six of our group of seven, Left to Right: Brian Marzano,

Mike Romer, Randy, Chris Hersman, John Maisel and Scott George (I'm on the other side of the camera) who ventured all the way to Pompano Beach, Fl.   We drove in two cars for our GHS senior year spring break in 1983 (check out the George family station wagon in the background).  

It was good, wholesome fun in the sun. Pompano was just North of the, then famous, Ft. Lauderdale rowdiness.  We stayed away from that.  Instead, we played ball, fished and enjoyed the ocean.  One evening, we came across a huge bale of pot that had floated up on the beach, and we immediately notified law enforcement.  They came and took it away. 

On the way home from that trip, I was in the Maisel Malibu vehicle with Randy and John.  We were the first car stopped behind a massive auto accident on the Florida Turnpike.  It included more than one fatality. We felt extremely helpless and frightened, as it seemed to take forever for the first responders to arrive.  We proceeded North after a few hours stopped.  I remember your Dad driving our vehicle through a big rain storm in Atlanta.  It seemed even more treacherous after what we had witnessed only hours before.

The photo on the right is spring break in college.  Your Dad is with Mike Romer (left,) and Brian Marzano. Mike also passed away in 2014 at age 49.  He was a very close friend of all of us.  I have been thinking about both of them quite a bit over the last two plus weeks.  They were both fine men and leaders.  They both treated people with kindness and welcomed people warmly in situations where others might hold back.  They both had a great sense of humor and laughed and made others smile frequently.  Two great men that I'm proud to have called friends.

Port St. Joe, Fl. was an awesome spring break destination.

We camped out under the evergreen trees and spent the day on the white sand beach.  We would play 

softball for hours without interruption from beach walkers.  We seemed to have the beach to ourselves.  At night we would build great camp fires and play cards.  We built a few bonfires in the sand dunes and "dune jumped" until we were exhausted.  Those spring break memories are great.

I have many great memories of Randy.  Spring break memories are fun because of the travel and adventures that we all experienced together.  I could go on with more, but I just wanted to let you know that your Dad meant a lot to me and I will miss him greatly.   

Mike Lorenz

Randy to the rescue

Randy has been my best friend since we were 4...so many stories.  The story that has been most recently on my mind was 20+ years ago, when we were both traveling to Nashville to cover our sales territories.   Turns out we were both in Nashville for the same night..."James, don't stay at the Motel 6, I have a suite and you can stay with me".  We visited as if we hadn't been apart for the years that we had.  Stayed up late asking each other questions that would pop into our minds – even though we were in our late 20's we started whispering the later it got as if Mr. or Mrs. Wolf were about to come into the hotel room and tell us we had 5 more minutes before we had to stop talking.  The next morning as I was getting ready for work, Randy came in the room from a morning jog – his arms full of urine cather kits, and assorted product samples that I was needing to make my sales call.  My car had been broken into over the night, and the thief had discarded my bag of samples slowly as he ran away from what he was hoping to be a more lucrative break-in.  Randy gathered up a miles worth of useless gauze, bandaids, catheters, etc and shorted his run, then came back and asked if he could help me figure out how to get my window repaired...typical Wolf-man.

 

Jim (not James) Henke

Photo from Jul 3, 2014

Randy circling up as we were getting ready to go on the mission trip. Randy always showed up to wish us a good trip.

Meeting the Greenhills Gang - Lisa Lorenz

About 21 years ago I started dating Mike Lorenz who attended Greenhills High School with Randy. I'm not sure who arranged it, but Mike told me the "Greenhills Gang" wanted to meet me and we were all going to dinner. Just who were the "Greenhills Gang" I wanted to know. Mike explained that these were the group of guys (and girls - Amy Wolf) that he hung out with in high school. I was amazed that they were all still so close since it had been nearly 10 years since high school. When we got to the restaurant, Randy walked right up to me, introduced himself and said "we've all been so curious to meet the girl who caught Mike" and in typical Randy fashion proceeded to tell me what a great guy Mike was. Randy made me feel so welcome on that first meeting and every time since then. We talked often about our alma mater Ohio State. He was the kind of person who left you feeling better after having talked with him! We will miss his smile and his laugh!

Clueless at Pine Car Derby- Nancy Gougeon Knapp

Over the many years I've known Randy, he has always been kind and willing to look out for a friend's little sister.  One somewhat recent example was a couple years ago when I found myself at the Pine Car Derby weigh-ins for the first time.  My husband was out of town and I had to fill in.  I was completely clueless as to how any of it worked.  Randy was there with Will who was a veteran at pine car and had his car ready to go.  Seeing that I was more the a little lost on where to begin, Randy stepped in and took my son Griffin and helped him fine tune his car, glueing weights, sanding and adding graphite powder to my sons car and helped us navigate the seemingly complex world of pine car derby the first time.  He was patient and caring and built into my son that day.  I was and am grateful for his servant heart which led him to build into Griffin. 

Flying Pig Marathon 2003-Margaret Gallick

Great memory of a great guy: Randy Wolf, found me walking at Mile 23 in Covington during the 2003 Flying Pig Marathon- the only time I ever "hit the wall". Knowing I am trying to qualify for Boston, asks how much time I have left (in order to qualify). I tell him: "30 mins and I can't do it."  He says "come on, we are going in" and stayed with me while I alternately told him I loved him and hated him. Sacrificed his own time to help me realize a dream. That picture says it all-I am dying and he never left my side!

our son Randy

We are Randy's parents.  We loved him with an unconditional, indescribable love.  We will relish memories of him, so please use this blog when you think of "Randy" moments.  It will help us all keep him "alive." Thank you.

Introduction to the Blog

I am Randy's oldest son, Nate. It has now been two weeks since my dad suddenly passed away. I am making this blog because I want to hear other people's stories about him. I think that the best way for me and for all of us to stay and feel close to him is to bring him back through stories and memories from all of those that loved and were touched by him. Please do not hesitate to share anything that you would like to about my father. I am very grateful to say that I knew him very well and I spent lots and lots of very special times with him, but having left us far too early, I don't think that any of us can help but want much more. Here is your opportunity to share and experience that with others.

Posting is very simple, all you need to do is write your post, include pictures if you would like, and email it to: natewolf7.randy@blogger.com

This will post your email straight to the blog, so you will need to type your post in the actual email (not as an attachment).

Make sure that you include a title in the subject line of the email with your name after the title (example: Long's Peak- Nate Wolf). It's important that you include your name because all posts will be posted under my name since I am the blog admin.