Paul Wolf

It is with great sadness that we inform you of the death on January 15, 2025, of Paul Wolf, age 85, of Ashland, MA.

Paul was born in December 1939, to Nathan and Helen (née Zelazne) Wolf, in Brooklyn, NY. His parents and uncles owned candy stores in Brooklyn, where Paul became a master egg cream maker. Growing up in the apartment over his parents' candy store on Avenue U, Paul was the baby of the family, and he and his older sisters forged lifelong connections with their large and bustling family—connections that have been passed down from generation to generation of Wolf cousins to this day.

Paul worked as a salesman, a profession that suited his fondness for schmoozing and kibitzing. It was while working in the advertising department at the Abraham & Straus department store in Brooklyn that he encountered his coworker's niece, an NYU English major from Florida named Harriet Krigsman. On August 17, 1963, they married, a blessed union that lasted 61 years, until her death this past September.

Paul and Harriet lived in Brooklyn until 1972, when they packed up their twin daughters and their big Chevy Bel Air and relocated to South Florida. For nearly two decades, Paul sold print advertising for the Hollywood Sun-Tattler newspaper. He enjoyed the warm weather, playing softball with B’nai B'rith for a time and doing Florida homeowner things like mowing the lawn, cleaning the pool, and finding much to occupy him outside. Closer geographically to Harriet's parents in their adopted home state, Paul nevertheless treasured his Wolf family back in New York, New Jersey, and California, and he traveled for as many family gatherings as work and distance would allow. Retirement gave Paul and Harriet the freedom to travel more, and their trips to Alaska, national parks in the West, California, and a bed and breakfast or two in Vermont made them very happy. They liked nothing more than to be in each other's company, wherever they were.

In 2001, when their two oldest granddaughters were born three days apart, Paul and Harriet became snowbirds, spending half the year near Framingham with their daughters' growing families and heading back to Florida for the winter months. “Poppy” became legendary to his five grandchildren for his willingness to schlep to the pool after lunch with multiple kids and foam noodles in tow, his enduring love of the Chinese buffet, and his wonderfully terrible dinnertime nuggets (an all-time favorite: "I'm on a seafood diet—when I see food, I eat it"). Paul was easy with people, and his kindness will be missed by all who knew him and cared for him.

Paul is survived by his children, Julie Wolf & Keith Wagner and Abby Wolf & Gentry Menzel of Framingham, MA; his grandchildren—Rachel Adina, Benjamin Asher, and Lila Allegra Wolf-Wagner, and Eliza Wolf and Nina Wolf Menzel; and multiple generations of nieces, nephews, and cousins. He was predeceased by his parents and by his older sisters, Cynthia and Joan, and by his beloved wife, Harriet. His family will forever treasure their memories of a gentle and generous man who felt unconditional love and pride for them every day of his long and happy life, and never missed an opportunity to let them know.

A funeral service will be held on Tuesday, January 21 at 11:30am at Temple Beth Am, 300 Pleasant Street, Framingham, MA. The service may be viewed via livestream at this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81960836593?pwd=mMZ60URwWY4vTivMxcKnZ8DgPWhF5N.1

Internment will take place at Framingham Natick Jewish Cemetery, 40 Fairview Avenue, Natick, MA.

Shiva information is available from the family upon request.

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to an organization that Paul supported, such as the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (https://www.ushmm.org/), or to the Amedisys Foundation, in gratitude to Metrowest Homecare and Hospice (Marlborough, MA) for their care of Paul (https://www.amedisys.com/services/hospice-care/donations/).

Zichrono livracha, may Paul Wolf’s memory always be for a blessing.