Dale Edward Wolf (September 6, 1924 – March 20, 2021) was an American businessman and politician from Wilmington, in

New Castle County, Delaware New Castle County is the northernmost of the three counties of the U.S. state of Delaware (New Castle, Kent, and Sussex). As of the 2020 census, the population was 570,719, making it the most populous county in Delaware, with nearly 60% of th ...

. He was veteran of World War II, and a member of the Republican Party, who served for three weeks as the 70th governor of Delaware. , he remains the most recent Republican governor of Delaware.

Early life and family

Wolf was born at Kearney, Nebraska, the son of Harry and Irene Wolf. He graduated from the

University of Nebraska A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

, Nebraska, with a degree in agriculture. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, he served as a

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a ...

in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

, earning a Bronze Star Medal and

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

at the Battle of Okinawa. He married Clarice Elaine Marshall in 1945 and they have four children, Janet, Glenda, Thomas, and James.

Professional and political career

After the war, Wolf received his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in agriculture from

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

and soon took a position with the agriculture research division of E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. He became the chairman of the board of DuPont's Pharmaceutical Business and group vice president of the agriculture business. Meanwhile, he was at various times chairman of the National Agriculture Chemical Association (NACA), chairman of the International Agriculture Chemical Association (GIFAP), and a member of the board of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Association (PMA). He retired from DuPont in 1987 to accept an appointment from Governor Michael N. Castle as state director of development, responsible for the capital budget, housing for the poor, tourism and economic development.

Lieutenant Governor and Governor of Delaware

Wolf was incumbent governor Michael N. Castle's choice for lieutenant governor in 1988 and won election, defeating Democrat Gary E. Hindes, a Wall Street investment executive from

New Castle County New Castle County is the northernmost of the three counties of the U.S. state of Delaware (New Castle, Kent, and Sussex). As of the 2020 census, the population was 570,719, making it the most populous county in Delaware, with nearly 60% of the ...

. He served one term from January 20, 1989, until December 31, 1992. Wolf chose not to run for governor in 1992 against the candidacy of Democrat Thomas R. Carper. When Governor Michael N. Castle resigned to take his new position in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

, however, Wolf served as governor the remaining 20 days of Castle's second term. He was, to date, the last Republican governor of Delaware.

Later career

Wolf later served as chairman of Daynel International, a consultant group that assists companies interested in doing business in China. He lived in

Guangzhou, China Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, sou ...

in 1995, setting up an office for the law firm of Mezzullo-McCandlish, of which he was the senior international consultant. He was vice chairman of the board of directors of the Emerald BioAgriculture Corporation, an agriculture biotechnology company in Lansing, Michigan, and from 1998 on vice chairman of the WSFS Financial Corporation. He chaired the first Drug and Alcohol Abuse Coordinating Council for Delaware, and was the chairman of SURJ (Stand Up for what's Right and Just), an organization dedicated to improve the criminal justice system in Delaware.

Election

References

External links

Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States
* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Wolf, Dale E. 1924 births 2021 deaths United States Army personnel of World War II Businesspeople from Delaware Republican Party governors of Delaware Lieutenant Governors of Delaware Military personnel from Nebraska People from Kearney, Nebraska People from New Castle County, Delaware United States Army officers