Mary Alexander Hodge Wolfe
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Mary Alexander Hodge Wolfe passed away peacefully at home in Saratoga Springs on her 95th birthday, May 5, 2013. She was a longtime resident of Saratoga County, having moved to Burnt Hills in 1947.
Born in 1918, Mary was one of five children of Scottish immigrants, and as a child belonged to an extended family of Scottish aunts, uncles and cousins in Washington, D. C. Her family imparted values of optimism and good cheer, a modest lifestyle and sound domestic management.
She met her husband, John K. Wolfe (“Jack”) through her school friend (and then her beloved sister- in- law), Ethel. Mary and Jack were married from 1939 until his death in 2007.
Mary graduated from Roosevelt High School in Washington, D.C., in 1936. Prior to her marriage, she worked for the local telephone company as an operator.
She raised her family in Burnt Hills, often managing alone while Jack traveled for General Electric. She was admitted to Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs in 1963, and took classes part-time toward a Bachelor of Arts degree.
Mary continued her academic work at Pace College Westchester from 1965 through 1968, when the family lived in Chappaqua, N. Y., and then returned to Skidmore fulltime to complete her degree in 1969 when the family returned to Clifton Park.
She continued higher education at the College of Saint Rose, attaining teaching certification, and worked in the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Schools as a substitute teacher.
A devoted member of Burnt Hills Me thod is t Church since 1947, she used her training to establish the church’s successful preschool there. She has been active in the affairs of the church for 65 years.
Mary also served as a an officer in the Burnt HillsBallston Lake Women’s Club, was a member of P.E.O., and participated in a women’s book club in Burnt Hills for many years.
Mary was pre-deceased by three sisters, Emma, Catherine and Alice; and a brother, Douglas. Her son, Ralph, passed away in 1993.
She is survived by two children, Dr. John Wolfe and his wife, Sherri Silvian, of Manhattan Beach, Calif., and the Rev. Joyce Smothers and her husband, John Smothers, of Allentown, Pa.; three grandchildren, Lucy Wolfe of New Orleans, La., Jack Wolfe of Cambridge, Mass., and Laura Smothers of Alexandria, Va.
She was interred next to her husband at Sweetman Cemetery in Charlton Tuesday, May 7, 2013.
A service to celebrate her life will be held at 1 p.m. Sunday, May 26, 2013, at the Burnt Hills United Methodist Church, Route 50, Burnt Hills with the Rev. Holly Nye officiating. A reception will follow the service.
The Townley and Wheeler Funeral Home, Ballston Lake, is in charge of arrangements.
Friends may honor her memory with contributions to the Burnt Hills United Methodist Church.