Ray Wolfe (September 23, 1905 – October 5, 1977) was

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...

Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring ...

from 1944 to 1945.

Biography

Ray G. Wolfe was born September 23, 1905, in

West Liberty, Iowa West Liberty is a city in Muscatine County, Iowa, Muscatine County, Iowa, United States. The population was 3,858 at the time of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is part of the Muscatine micropolitan area. West Liberty is located fiv ...

. He moved to

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S ...

in January 1927 to work for his uncle in a

sheet metal Sheet metal is metal formed into thin, flat pieces, usually by an industrial process. Sheet metal is one of the fundamental forms used in metalworking, and it can be cut and bent into a variety of shapes. Thicknesses can vary significantly; ex ...

shop at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and C Street. In the years to follow, he purchased the business and converted it into ''Wolfe's Department Store''. Wolfe was elected to a single term as Mayor of Anchorage in 1944. In 1960, he ran a failed campaign for a seat in the

Alaska Senate The Alaska State Senate is the upper house in the Alaska Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. It convenes in the Alaska State Capitol in Juneau, Alaska and is responsible for making laws and confirming or rejecting gu ...

as a Republican. In 1972, Wolfe sold the

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

to his nephew, Jerry Wolf, who renamed it ''Wolf's Home Furnishings''. Wolfe died the morning of October 5, 1977 at Providence Hospital in Anchorage.

References

* 1905 births 1977 deaths 20th-century mayors of places in Alaska Alaska Republicans People from Muscatine County, Iowa Mayors of Anchorage, Alaska {{Alaska-mayor-stub