He stormed Omaha Beach on D-Day in World War II. He survived being shot twice, including once in the face. After he returned home to Baltimore, he even managed to survive two years as a judge in the city?s Circuit Court.
So, when Col. Edwin Wolf ? the oldest living graduate of the University of Maryland School of Law ? ponders how he lived to be 100, he doesn?t really know what to say.
“I guess I?ve been lucky,” Wolf says.
Six days after he turned 100 on May 1, Wolf was honored Sunday by the Maryland State Bar Association, which threw him a party at Roland Park Place.
“My mind is still sharp,” Wolf says. “My memory is good. And I have all my teeth, except one.”
Nicole Earl-Hernandez, the bar association?s director of administration, said several members were aware that Wolf was turning 100 this week and wanted to celebrate his achievements.
“Because he?s very involved in the bar association, they decided to honor him specifically,” she said.
Wolf graduated from the University of Maryland?s law school in 1927. He joined the Coast Guard in 1940 and went on active duty right after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
Along the way, he transferred to the Army and worked his way up to become a colonel by “paying attention to business and the commanding officers,” Wolf says.
“I was one of the first ones on the Omaha Beach, and I?ll never forget it,” Wolf says of the June 6, 1944, Allied raid of Germany controlled French territory. “I got shot in the face, and it cost me half my face. That part of my face still moves. I got shot again after the Battle of the Bulge.The third time I was injured, it was my fault. I dove over a fence to get away from machine-gun fire and broke my shoulder. I didn?t realize there was a big hole right where I was diving.”
Once off active duty, Wolf, with his partner Archibald Eccleston, founded the law firm of Eccleston and Wolf.
“We were together for nearly 60 years,” Wolf says. “I tried the cases, and he brought the business in. When we both quit, we had 42 lawyers working for us. Not too shabby.”
Wolf also argued in front of the U.S. Supreme Court and served as a judge for the Circuit Court of Baltimore City in 1967 and 1968.
Looking back at his life, Wolf says he was glad to celebrate his 100th birthday with more than 40 friends at the Center Club in Baltimore.
“We had a wonderful party,” he says. “They are devoted to me, and I am to them.”
