Rita Jean Wolfe, a community leader and daughter of former Dispatch Publisher John F. Wolfe, died Monday at the Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital at Ohio State University.
She was 56. She was known for her work serving on boards of nonprofit organizations dedicated to helping people and animals.
Like her father, Wolfe preferred to work behind the scenes, often making discrete inquiries about those who were in need.
“She believed everyone should have an opportunity whether it was a person or an animal,” said Laurie Stein Marsh, the retired executive director of Leadership Columbus, where Wolfe was a board member and a graduate. “She had an ability to connect with people regardless of their social status in life and the same with animals. She had an abundance of love in her heart I called a generosity of spirit.’’
After earning a bachelor’s degree in mass communication from Miami University in Ohio in 1989, she went to work at WGN-TV in Chicago.
In 1991, she returned to Columbus to work in the sales department at WBNS-TV, which also was owned by the Wolfe family at the time.
Nine years later, she was promoted to corporate director of civic affairs for The Dispatching Printing Company, a position she held until 2016 when she was named vice president and director of corporate relations.
Besides Leadership Columbus, Wolfe served on the boards of The Harmony Project and the James Cancer Hospital and Leadership Columbus. Her compassion for animals led to serving on the board of Columbus Humane (formerly the Capital Area Humane Society) and Ohio State’s College of Veterinary Medicine Engagement Council.
She helped raise awareness of human trafficking and supported CATCH Court, a special docket within the Franklin County Municipal Court to help break the cycle of abuse.
“She would see somebody who didn’t even make overt request for help. She would work behind the scenes and figure out a way to connect with people to help with the opportunity they were seeking,” Marsh said. “It didn’t matter who that person was. She did the same with animals’’
Her father died in 2016.
She is survived by mother Ann I. Wolfe and sisters Sara W. (Michael) Perrini and Katie W. (Clark) Lloyd.
Calling hours will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday at the Columbus Club, 181 E. Main St., and a Celebration of Life will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Southern Theater, 21 E. Main St.
Memorial contributions may be made to the James Cancer Hospital, through the Ohio State University Foundation, or Nationwide Children’s Hospital Foundation.
@BizMarkWilliams
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Rita Wolfe, daughter of John F. Wolfe and community leader, dies
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