SEPTEMBER 28, 1924

EASTERN CHEROKEE ELDER JEREMIAH “JERRY” WOLFE BORN

Wolfe grew up on the Cherokee Indian Reservation in North Carolina (NC) and lived his life mostly in the Yellowhill Cherokee community. Joining the U.S. Navy in 1943, he participated in the invasion of Normandy. Wolfe was one of the last Cherokee stonecutters, a stickball caller, and a storyteller. Retiring from the federal service in 1985, he worked at the Museum of the Cherokee Indians. Awards/honors: Cherokee Heritage Award (2002); NC State Legislature Award for contributions to the Eastern Band of the Cherokee (2008); Patriot Award (2014); Order of the Long Leaf Pine (2017); and an honorary doctorate of Human Letters. Able to write and fluently speak the Cherokee language, he taught it to young people to preserve the language and was interviewed for the documentary First Language – The Race to Save Cherokee. In 2013, Wolfe, a respected elder, was awarded the title of “Beloved Man” by his tribe, an honor not been given out for more than 200 years. He died on March 12, 2018, in Asheville, NC.

Source: “Obituary of Jeremiah Wolfe,” Long House Funeral Home Inc.  Retrieved 11/19/2023, Obituary of Jeremiah Wolfe | Long House Funeral Home Inc.

Photo:  Packersfan1491, 8/22/2013. Permissive Use.