The first East Union High School student to be sent to the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO, after graduation has just retired at the rank of lieutenant colonel – some 26 years later.
Gary M. Wolfe is a l982 EUHS grad and graduated from the USAF Academy four years later. He received his pilot training in Tennessee flying the C-130, C-131 and C7 aircraft.
Wolfe was assigned to Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines for two years followed by duty out of numerous other bases including Madrid, Spain and finally to Randolph AFB in San Antonio, Texas, where he retired at the end of February.
At East Union he played football four years JV and varsity under Vern Gebhardt. Wolfe was in band for four years as well under Jose Barron winning the Louis Armstrong Jazz Award in 1981 and the John Phillip Souza Award in 1982.
Former East Union band director Jose Barron offered his own recollections about Wolfe who graduated with his daughter Patricia.
“I can tell you he was a musician – he played the trumpet and he was the top dog – the heart and soul of the jazz band and the marching band,” Barron said.
The colonel and his wife have two teenage children: Matthew, 16, and Tiffany, 13. His parents Dena and Elmer Wolfe reside in Manteca. He will stay at the Texas air base where he is working as a civilian employee.
Gary M. Wolfe is a l982 EUHS grad and graduated from the USAF Academy four years later. He received his pilot training in Tennessee flying the C-130, C-131 and C7 aircraft.
Wolfe was assigned to Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines for two years followed by duty out of numerous other bases including Madrid, Spain and finally to Randolph AFB in San Antonio, Texas, where he retired at the end of February.
At East Union he played football four years JV and varsity under Vern Gebhardt. Wolfe was in band for four years as well under Jose Barron winning the Louis Armstrong Jazz Award in 1981 and the John Phillip Souza Award in 1982.
Former East Union band director Jose Barron offered his own recollections about Wolfe who graduated with his daughter Patricia.
“I can tell you he was a musician – he played the trumpet and he was the top dog – the heart and soul of the jazz band and the marching band,” Barron said.
The colonel and his wife have two teenage children: Matthew, 16, and Tiffany, 13. His parents Dena and Elmer Wolfe reside in Manteca. He will stay at the Texas air base where he is working as a civilian employee.
