Obituary
It is with a saddened heart I announce that on Sept 29, 2020 Michael (Mike) Edward Wolfe formerly of Trail, BC passed away at the age of 99 years at Orchard Manor in Hawthorne Park Retirement Community in Kelowna, BC. He passed peacefully and was predeceased by his first wife Margaret (Peggy) Edith Wolfe (nee Loucks) in 1985 and his 2nd wife Elsie Feakes-Wolfe (nee Brown) in 2018, his sisters Yvonne Radovich and Draga Hudoklin-Turik, half-sister Christina Mann, and stepson Alvin (Al) Feakes.
He is survived by his half-brother Lawrence Wolfe, half-sister Mary Howell and daughter Michele Shankland and partner Ken Coupland and grandson Michael Shankland, stepson Richard Feakes and wife Lorraine, stepdaughter Carol Truman and partner Rob Huber and step-granddaughter Christy Hews and her daughter Alexandria Celeste Anderson, stepdaughter Pamela Lane and husband Jeff and stepdaughter Brenda Lane and husband James.
Mike was born in the Gulch in Trail, BC April 23, 1921 to Michael E. Wolf and Yvonne Wolf (nee Kosincis) and was the youngest of 3 children. His mother passed away when he was 5 years old and he was raised by his older sisters for a time until his father remarried Verona Madronic who had 3 children of her own. His father worked in the mines at Cominco in Trail and before he remarried it was sometimes a challenge to find where young Michael was after getting off a late shift, as his sisters would sometimes pawn him off to a friendly neighbor so they could go out on the town when babysitting wasn’t to their liking.
Prior to the Second World War Mike started working at the Cominco foundry in Trail and in July of 1941 he enlisted in the RCAF and trained in Calgary, AB. When his training was completed he shipped out to Halifax for the trip to England. Upon reaching England, he was assigned to various squadrons including the 419 Moose Squadron and survived 39 missions in Halifax, Wellington and Lancaster bombers (of which the Lancaster was his favorite) and achieved the rank of Flight Lieutenant. In addition to being a navigator, he also was a radio operator, bombardier and gunner if needed. He flew missions over Germany, North Africa and the Mediterranean theaters of war. He only had to ever bail out once over England when their plane couldn’t quite make it back to base after being shot up. As I’m told by his daughter Michele, Mike told her being all adventurous young men they decided to do a bit of sightseeing after dropping their bomb load which brought them back a bit later than usual, which is where they sustained damage to the plane requiring them to bail out. He suffered an injury to his leg upon landing which bothered him later in life (as well as having some hearing loss from the drone of the planes). Initially they were chased around by the Home Guard with pitchforks and shovels until they realized they weren’t the enemy. The crew received the Caterpillar award pin for successfully bailing out of a disabled airplane.
At one point he had an extended leave which allowed him to return to Canada and it was on the train that took him back to Halifax to return to England that he met his 1st wife Margaret who was also in the military. She noticed him wearing the Caterpillar pin and asked him about it and they kept in touch throughout the rest of the war. After returning to Canada when the war ended they married in 1945 and settled back in Trail, BC to raise their family.
Upon returning to Canada after the war, he didn’t talk much about his war experiences (as many of his generation didn’t) and returned to Cominco and began an apprenticeship to become a patternmaker making wooden scale models of the items being produced and forged by Cominco. He retired after 40 years and in 1985 his wife Margaret tragically passed in a car accident in Ontario attending a reunion of her wartime military friends. 2 years later he would meet through a mutual friend and marry Elsie Feakes who had also lost her spouse a few years earlier. They had much in common and enjoyed dancing, polka music, traveling, gardening, playing scrabble and cribbage and many more activities.
After spending 10 years in Trail together, they made the move to Kelowna and bought a condo to get away from shoveling and blowing snow in the winter and many road trips were made without the worry of maintaining a yard and house following this move. Mike was an avid golfer before and during his retirement and at 83 he finally decided it was time to stop carrying his clubs and bought a pull cart for his golf bag. At 86 his hip started giving him too many problems after a round and he gave it up. He was a very good driver without a blemish on his record, but at 89 he decided driving was simply getting too difficult and gave up his license before having his last accident.
Mobility was continuing to trouble him so they sold the condo in 2012 and moved into an assisted living unit which could provide them with the future needs and care required, and it wasn’t long before he found himself in a wheelchair after having a few too many falls. He had to move to the full care side of the development and Elsie visited him several times a day and he would wheel himself up every morning after breakfast to her unit and they would spend the morning together until it was time for him to have lunch and lie down for the afternoon. After Elsie’s passing in 2018, his health and eyesight continued to deteriorate and he looked forward to the weekly visits by stepdaughter Brenda and more staggered visits by the rest of the family who lived further away and out of province.
His mind remained mostly clear right up to the end and I always enjoyed our daily visits when we came out a couple of times a year. Through Brenda we were able to pass on messages to him on how everyone was doing as talking on the phone became too difficult for him to hear properly. He will certainly be missed by all who knew him and our many thanks to all the staff of Orchard Manor over the years that visited with him and took their breaks with him and kept him updated on sports and other local events. They would bug him and he would fire right back at them and they kept each other’s spirits lifted in good and difficult times.
Thank you Mike for your military service and thank you for your kindness to everyone you loved and RIP at long last. There will be no service at his request and cremation and internment will be at the Kelowna Memorial Park Cemetery. A memorial will be held at a date to be determined. Donations can be made to the charity of your choice.
Tributes and condolences can be sent to the family on the Everden Rust Funeral Services & Crematorium website by visiting www.everdenrust.com .
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Nos plus sincères sympathies à la famille et aux amis de Michael Edward Wolfe April 23 1921
September 29 2020..
everden rust funeral services & cremation
Décès pour la Ville: Kelowna, Province: Colombie britanique
avis deces Michael Edward Wolfe April 23 1921
September 29 2020
avis mortuaire Michael Edward Wolfe April 23 1921
September 29 2020