Bill was born in Reno, Nevada, to William Robert Wolf, Sr., and Delores Jane Reid on 28 Jul 1950. He went to school in San Diego, California, and graduated in 1968 from Will C. Crawford High School. He married his wife, Kat, on 6 Aug 2005 in the backyard of their home in Colorado Springs.
He graduated from National University in San Diego, California, with a master’s degree in computers and education. He was a veteran of the Vietnam War, serving in the U.S. Army and obtaining the rank of Sergeant. While in Vietnam, he performed the duties of helicopter door gunner and crew chief on the UH1H for the 129th Assault Helicopter Company. He was awarded the Air Medal with the “V” device (for Valor). After Vietnam, he became a drill sergeant at Ft. Ord, training at the same company where he was a recruit.
After four years in the U.S. Army, Bill joined the San Diego Police Department, where he later started and ran the Critical Incident Management Unit (CIMU) for 22 years, teaching/training First Responders in the Incident Command System (ICS) and the State Emergency Management System (SEMS). Bill retired from the SDPD after 27 years and a few weeks before 9/11. He then started his own business, developing and teaching emergency management to First Responders in California, the United States, and internationally. Bill was considered an emergency management subject matter expert by all who knew him, and his services were often requested by name. He truly was a “one-man staff” that could do it all. He finally retired in 2011, much to the pleasure of his wife, Kat.
His fellow comrades of the 129th AHC, credit Bill with being a catalyst in bringing peace and closure to many Vietnam veterans. He accomplished this by being instrumental in recording and publishing the History of the 129th Assault Helicopter Company. They are forever indebted to him.
Bill is preceded in death by his parents, stepfather, one brother, and one sister, and his ex-wife Helen Melissa (Vannice) Lundquist.
He is survived by his wife and partner of twenty-five years, Kathleen (Kat) Lally-Wolf, and her children Kristina (Kaycee) Colleen (Pence) Bell (Brian) and Randy Lee Pence. He is also survived by his first wife, Kathryn (Pountney) Goulart (Joseph) and son Brandt Lee Thiem, his second wife, Brenda (Pountney) Wolf and children Matthew Benjamin Wolf and Emily Anne Wolf, and two sons by his deceased ex-wife Melissa, James Lyle Wolf (Katie), and William Robert Wolf, III. He is also survived by eight grandchildren, one (step)granddaughter, two brothers, two sisters, and several nieces and nephews.
Bill’s cremated remains are at home with his wife, Kat, waiting for her to join him someday, at which time they will be interred at Pike’s Peak National Cemetery in Colorado Springs.
Bill requested no burial ceremonies or life celebrations. Please consider donations to veterans' organizations instead of flowers or other gifts.
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