Carl W. Wolff, Jr.

Carl W. Wolff Jr., 92, of Pompton Plains, NJ formerly of Spring Hill, FL and Packanack Lake, Wayne, NJ passed away on Monday May 8, 2023 after a brief illness.

Carl was born on December 23, 1930, the only son of Alice Luther and Carl Wolff Sr. of Montclair, NJ.  Though he was their only child, he was born into a large and loving family of many uncles and beloved grandparents, Mom and Pop.  He spent his youth doing odd jobs for Pop who owned several apartment houses in Montclair.  He earned his keep sweeping sidewalks and emptying the ash cans.  When he was a teenager, he had an after school job as a soda jerk in town.  He would spend his summers at his grandparents’ summer house on Culver Lake.  His best buddy, his cousin Steve, would be at his parents’ house across the lake. They would call out to each other during the day with a hearty “HOY” and then canoe or swim across the lake to hang out together. As a child, Carl also spent some summers traveling by train– alone! – to St Louis MO to visit his cousin and uncle.  It was there he saw his first baseball game and found his passion for the St. Louis Cardinals. He also found an appreciation for steam engines. He took train trips with his cousin, Steve, and never missed a chance to go to local train stations to see steam engines ride by.

Carl graduated from Montclair High School in 1949 and through a family friend got a job working for the Osborne Company in the Woolworth Building in Manhattan.  During his tenure there he commuted to work by train with his best friend, Don Coffin and another friend, Doris Ackerman who worked for Young and Rubicam.  Doris thought her coworker, Carol, would make a great match for Carl. Doris set them up on a blind date to the Spring dance at the 200 Club in West Orange with a whole group of friends.  Things went so well that Carol and Carl went out again the very next night.

Those two nights in 1952 began a three year courtship that ultimately culminated in Carl asking Carol to marry him.  They were married on April 16, 1955 and were able to spend 58 loving years together before Carol’s passing in 2013.  For their honeymoon, the couple drove down to Key West Florida in Carl’s Chevy Bel Air.  After a few years living in an apartment in Rutherford, some friends had announced they were moving to the country.  The country turned out to be Packanack Lake in Wayne, and Carl and Carol fell in love with the area.  They bought their first house at 20 Hillcrest and soon welcomed their first child, daughter Karen.  She was soon followed by another daughter, Susan, and then a son, James.  The family eventually outgrew their little house and made a move to a larger home just down the road at 188 Hillcrest. 

In 1954, Carl’s soon to be mother-in-law had a friend who got Carl a job with NJ Bell Telephone as a lineman.  He began with the company climbing telephone poles, stringing wire, and installing phone booths around North Jersey.  He worked his way up the company ladder through NJ Bell and Bell Atlantic and eventually the takeover by Verizon.  He retired from the company as a Systems Design Engineer.  Carl also served in the Naval Reserves as a Seabee for eight years and was honorably discharged in 1958.

At home, Carl was involved with the Packanack Lake Country Club governing body for twelve years eventually serving as president of the Board of Governors.  He also dedicated time to working with the swim team at Packanack while all three children swam for the team. As the children grew up and went off to college, Carol had the itch to move again, and as luck would have it they found a third house on Hillcrest Drive, this time at 131.  Many summers were spent at their favorite vacation spot down the Jersey Shore in Stone Harbor.  Days were spent on the beach and evenings were spent enjoying cheesesteaks from the Dugout and ice cream from Springers. While Carol enjoyed shopping along 96^th Street, Carl would patiently wait on the benches under the twinkling lights.

In 1994 after Carl’s retirement from now Verizon after 40 years, he and Carol made the big move to Florida. They spent their retirement years golfing and traveling.  Some of their amazing trips were to Europe, taking river cruises there and looking up family history in Germany and Ireland.  They also loved visiting the US National Parks out west and took trips to Hawaii and Alaska. Many Thanksgivings were spent in Duck, NC with Carol’s sister, Joan, and her husband, Andy, enjoying the peace of the off season on the Outer Banks.

In 1998 Carl and Carol were thrilled to finally become grandparents to little Katharine, their bundle.  Katharine was the joy of their lives and all the incentive they needed to come north several times a year to visit.  They would come for Mother’s Day and Christmas each year for extended visits. Their favorite time was in the summer when they would rent a house in Stone Harbor and spend some quality time at the beach with Katharine showing her all the family traditions down the shore.

In 2012 after some health issues for bothof them, Carl and Carol finally moved back north to be close to family and took a place at Cedar Crest in Pompton Plains.  It was here that first Carol and then Carl lived out their final days surrounded by their loving children.

Carl is survived by his three children, Karen Talerico and husband Amedeo of Monmouth Beach, NJ, Susan McNaught and husband William of West Milford, NJ, son James Wolff of Pompton Plains, NJ, and granddaughter, Katharine McNaught of West Milford, NJ. He was predeceased by his beloved wife Carol (Prezkuta) in 2013.