Raymond and Martha Wolf
Martha Morris was born on May 4, 1906, in Graham. Her parents were Wade Allen Morris, Jr, and Leila Gay.
Wade Allen Morris, Jr was born on April 19, 1873, on a farm near Austin, Texas. He was a Dentist and his wife was a member of a prestigious family in the Austin area, the Mabry’s.
Dr. Wade Allen Morris attended school in Austin and then attended the University of Pennsylvania, one of the best dental colleges in the Nation. He brought his family to Graham in 1894 since his wife’s brother, R.E. Mabry was located here as a cattleman and banker.
Dr. Wade Morris spent several months each year traveling to small towns in West Texas in a buggy, setting up his office in a store. Later, he traveled up and down the Fort Worth and Denver Railroad with a folding chair, little foot motor, and boxes of dental equipment.
His wife, Leila Gay moved to Graham in 1892 to teach school and to help her aged father.
Dr. Wade Morris married Miss Leila Gay on April 19, 1899 in Graham. They were the parents of three daughters, Lucy Gay, Martha Mae, and Leila Katherine Morris.
Martha Morris graduated from Graham High School in 1922 and moved to Fort Worth where she attended Texas Christian University. Martha met a young man at school who was a star athlete, Raymond Bernard “Bear” Wolf. He was an All-Conference guard and field goal kicker in football and All-Conference first baseman and hitter in baseball at TCU.
Raymond Wolf was born on July 15, 1904 in Chicago, Illinois. After high school, he received a scholarship to attend TCU as a football and baseball player.
Martha Morris graduated with a teaching certificate from TCU and began to teach in Young County. After one year, she decided to become a principal and returned to TCU to work on her Masters.
Raymond Wolf was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the spring of 1927. He debuted with the professional baseball team as a first baseman on July 27, 1927, and it was his final game, suffering an irreparable knee injury on the first game.
Raymond Wolf and Miss Martha Morris married on May 25, 1928 in Graham and the couple returned to Fort Worth, to attend TCU. They both were working on their Master’s degrees, and their lives were spent around universities.
Raymond and Martha graduated with their Master’s degrees in 1928. Raymond worked as an assistant football coach for TCU with the linemen. In 1936, the University of North Carolina called him to become the Head football coach, Baseball coach, and Athletic director. Wherever Raymond’s coaching took him, Martha was teaching in the college or public school in the same town. They were in North Carolina until the fall of 1941 when heresigned and returned to Fort Worth where he was the director of the Fort Worth Boy’s Club for a brief time until 1942, when World War II broke out.
Raymond Wolf enlisted in the US Navy and rose in the ranks to become a Lt. Commander in charge of physical training at three pre-flight training centers. Martha returned to Graham to stay with my parents while he was away in the War. The couple wrote letters each week during those years of conflict. He rarely spoke of those difficult war years.
In 1946, after World War II, Morris Wolf was hired as the Head Football coach and Athletic Director for the University of Florida where he served for four seasons before resigning. Raymond and Martha returned to Fort Worth and he continued his work as director until 1952, when he was hired as Head Football Coach and Athletic Director of Tulane University. In 1954, the president of TCU, called Raymond Wolf to return to Fort Worth to head a new student job placement service. First as an assistant to the president and then as director of the department. Bear Wolf served TCU until his retirement in 1976.
Raymond and Martha Wolf attended the University Christian Church. They were both active members of the church and the University Community. They were involved with the Fort Worth Boy’s Club and Raymond was active in the Kiwanis Club in Fort Worth. He was inducted into the TCU Lettermen’s Association Hall of Fame in both football and baseball.
In 1972, Martha Wolf’s health began to fail and she passed away on January 3, 1973, in Fort Worth. She is buried in the Oak Grove Cemetery near her parents. She was survived by her husband and two sisters – Miss Lucy Gay Morris, who had retired from the Graham Insurance Agency, and Miss Leila Katherine Morris, who had worked in Washington, DC before her retirement, then she worked for the County Agent. Martha and Raymond Morris had no children, and her sisters never married.
Raymond Wolf was raised in the Catholic Church and when he married, he became First Christian, since that’s what his wife grew up in. After his wife’s death, he renewed his interest in the Catholic Church. He passed away on October 3, 1979, in Fort Worth, Texas, and was laid to rest beside his wife in Morris family plot. He was survived by one brother.