Clover Holly Wolf

COLUMBIA - Clover Morrison Holly Gatling Wolf, Ph.D., 101, died March 1, 2015, after a long, happy, and interesting life. The Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Tuesday, March 3, 2015, at 11 a.m. by the Rev. William D. Ladkau, at Good Shepherd Catholic Church where she was a founding member and attended Mass regularly until shortly before her final illness. Burial will be in Elmwood Cemetery. The Rosary was recited at 6 p.m. Monday, March 2, 2015 and the family received visitors until 7:30 p.m. at Dunbar Funeral Home, Devine Street Chapel. Mrs. Wolf was born February 5, 1914, in Brooklyn, N.Y., the only child of the late Herbert Leeds Holly and Florence Morrison Holly. Dr. Wolf attended Duke University and graduated from the University of South Carolina with her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in French. At the age of 66 she received her Ph.D. in comparative literature also from USC. Mrs. Wolf was first married for 57 years to the Rev. William L. Gatling Jr. who died in 1989. Her first career in the 1940s was as a radio talk show host. She was one of the first women to break into the radio broadcasting profession with WSB and WAGA in Atlanta and then with WTOP in Washington, D.C. She interviewed numerous celebrities including then Congressman John F. Kennedy and Helen Keller. Her second career was teaching English at Midland’s Technical College for more than a decade during which time she was named Adjunct Instructor of the Year. In 1997 at the age of 83, she married Robert A. Wolf, a neighbor at Still Hopes Episcopal Retirement Community in West Columbia. The wedding made headlines in The State: “Bands of Gold; Bladed of Steel” which was a reference to Mr. Wolf’s career as an aeronautical engineer and a developer of the Bell Helicopter. The newlyweds flew off on their honeymoon in a Bell Helicopter. Mr. Wolf died in 1998. Mrs. Wolf loved children, animals, music, and parties. She was a long-time supporter of South Carolina Citizens for Life. Mrs. Wolf is survived by her daughter, Holly Gatling of Columbia, and her son and daughter-in-law, William L. III “Laddie” and Lynn Gatling of Columbia, and their 11 children: Whitney Dorsel and her husband, Danny Dorsel of Hartsville; Jordan Gatling of Columbia and California; Cameron MacConnell and her husband, Mike MacConnell of Cincinnati, Ohio; Darby Landon Gatling, Kellen Gatling, and Mariel Gatling all of Charleston, Colbern Gatling of Greensboro, N.C., Haylen Gatling, Madison Gatling, and Parker Gatling of Columbia; and Hunter Gatling of Spartanburg; five great-grandchildren: William Dorsel, Bridget Dorsel, and Joseph Dorsel of Hartsville; and Hayden Marie MacConnell and Bennett MacConnell of Cincinnati, Ohio; a niece, Wilmot McMahon of Raleigh, N.C.; two step-daughters, Martha Wolf Gale of Brevard, N.C., and Ginny Wolf Peticolis of Eugene, Oregon; and numerous cousins. Memorials may be made to Good Shepherd Catholic Church, 809 Calhoun St., Columbia, SC 29202, or to South Carolina Citizens for Life, 1411 Barnwell St. #3, Columbia, SC 29201.