Henry "Hank" Albert Wolke Jr.

Hank was born in Cook County Hospital in Hazel Crest, IL on October 20, 1935. During his early life in Illinois, his parents lived in East Hazel Crest, Matteson, Chicago Heights, Blue Island, and the south side of Chicago. In Chicago, he attended Walter Scott grammar school and Chicago Vocational High School. In 1958 he was drafted into the Army, where he took basic training at Fort Hood, Texas before serving 18 months in Germany. After military service, Henry married Alice Helen Sheehan in 1961. They were married 56 years when Alice passed away in 2018.

Hank worked in Chicago for the Baltimore & Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad, a subsidiary of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway/Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. The company later became Chessie System and then merged with the Seaboard Railroad to become CSX. Hank started as a fireman, working in a diesel shop before becoming a Locomotive Engineer. As a union member, he was elected Chicago Division Chairman for the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers before going into management as an instructor and administrator for locomotive engineers. During his tenure in management, he was appointed Chicago Division Rules Officer, making him a member of the System Rules Committee in Baltimore. As he became more experienced with conducting hearings on train accidents and misdemeanors, he recognized a need to provide train crews with better tools to improve their efficiency. With that in mind, he became founder of the Chicago Operating Rules Association (CORA) consisting with memberships of eighteen Chicago railroads and serving as the organization's first charter president. Several years later, a promotion brought him to Cincinnati, where he took early retirement before moving to Cape Coral, FL.

Hank is survived by his son Michael Wolke; 3 daughters Valerie McGary, Victoria Klopfenstein, Lisa Iorfida; 2 grandsons Mitchell McGary, Nicholas Iorfida; 4 granddaughters Lauren Carr, Danielle Iorfida , Reagan Iorfida, Tisha Gray; great granddaughter Tatum Gray and great grandson Mason Gray.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Henry A Wolke and Lillian Madsen.

No services will be held, and no flowers or contributions are requested.