Julia El Saieh-Wolfe

Julie El Saieh-Wolfe, 77, a dedicated educator and talented linguist, died Monday in Eger Lutheran Home, Egbertville after a long illness. A resident of Lighthouse Hill, she had entered the nursing home last week.

Mrs. El-Saieh-Wolfe, who was fluent in four languages, spent more than 30 years as a teacher, school principal and later a mentor to new principals, starting in 1972 as a teacher at IS24 Myra S. Barnes School, Great Kills. She was serving as principal of IS75 Frank Paulo School, Huguenot when she retired in 2003.

Born in Brooklyn as the oldest of six siblings to Andre and Myrtle El Saieh, she spent her early years growing up in Haiti, where she learned to speak French Creole. She would later learn French, Italian and Spanish and receive a Master’s degree in French from St. John’s University.

Before her illness, Mrs. El-Saieh-Wolfe loved to travel, especially to Paris, a city she visited many times. She also accompanied her students on overseas trips, including several visits to Japan under a Board of Education exchange program.

This followed attendance at St. Peter’s Girls High School, where she was also a member of the cheerleading squad, and graduation from Wagner College, where she was Wagner’s 1968 Homecoming Queen.

“Julie was actually a very religious person,” said Mary Alice Tait, her sister-in-law. “But we also had so much fun together, especially on our many shopping trips over the years to Manhattan.”

It was at Wagner College that Mrs. El Saieh-Wolfe met her future husband, William “Bill” Wolfe. The couple were married 49 years ago in July of 1975 at Our Lady Queen of Peace R.C. Church in New Dorp. In 2022, Mr. Wolfe, a multi-sport star at both Curtis High School and Wagner College, was inducted into the Staten Island Sports Hall of Fame.

“Julie was a wonderful wife and friend,” Mr. Wolfe said. “I will miss her terribly.”

In addition to her husband, Mrs. Wolfe is survived by her brother, Andre El Saieh of White Plains, N.Y. and four sisters: Andrea El Saieh Piomelli of Arizona; Josephine Esposito of Castleton Corners; Linda El Saieh of South Carolina and Gloria El Saieh, a California resident.

The funeral will be Friday from the Casey Funeral Home, Castleton Corners, with a mass at 10 a.m. in Our Lady Queens of Peace R.C. Church, New Dorp. Burial will be in St. Peter’s Cemetery. Visiting hours will be held Thursday Jan. 9 at Casey Funeral Home, Slosson Ave. from 4 to 8 p.m.