Peter Kurt Wolf

Klaus-Peter Kurt Wolf, known as Pete by his friends and family, died on Sunday, April 20, 2025 in South Carolina after a hell of a life.

Born in Berlin, Germany in 1951 following older siblings Margit (b. 1942) and Hans (b. 1945), Pete spent his early childhood in Kreuzberg, a working-class section of Berlin that was heavily damaged by British bombs in WWII.

Pete’s parents Ursula, born in the German Baltic coast city of Greifswald in 1923, and Kurt, born in the early 1900s in Dessau, Germany, met at the Army Research Center in Peenemünde, home of the world's first functional large-scale liquid-propellant rocket, the V-2.

Following WWII, Kurt, a rocket scientist who did not want to risk being forced to work for another regime, pursued work with the U.S. Army, moving to Connecticut in the mid-1950s. In August 1960, the family joined Kurt, with Ursula, Margit, Hans, and Klaus-Peter arriving in America aboard the SS United States.

Shortly after the family reunited, they moved to Utica in upstate New York. Klaus-Peter, who was nine years old, spoke only German, and wore traditional German garb, enrolled in the local public school.

Just a few years later, in 1963, his older brother Hans, 18 years old and Klaus-Peter’s idol, was killed in a tragic accident. Margit soon married and moved out of the family home.

On his mother’s birthday, November 4, 1968, at the age of 17, Klaus-Peter enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, three years into America’s involvement in the Vietnam War. His father took him to the Utica train station, and Klaus-Peter traveled by train alone to tiny Yemassee, South Carolina.

From there he was transported by bus to the yellow footprints at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot on Parris Island, just four miles from the Beaufort, South Carolina home where he would live decades later. It was during his stay on Parris Island that he fell in love with boxing, becoming a true “lean, mean, fighting mo-chine!”

After twelve weeks in boot camp with vicious sand gnats and constant nighttime trudging through swamps, Klaus-Peter’s battalion graduated and left Parris Island. Klaus-Peter was held behind while the U.S. government made sure he wasn’t a German spy. Once Pete was finally authorized to leave Parris Island, he joined the 1st Battalion, 10th Marines, 2nd Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force at Camp LeJeune in North Carolina—providing artillery support for naval operations.

Pete spent two years on active duty with the Marines, traveling to Okinawa, among other places. He was then a reservist for four years, after which he was Honorably Discharged at the rank of Sergeant in November 1974. Following Marine Corps service, Pete attended Herkimer College in Utica, NY. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen on May 5, 1977 and dropped Klaus from his name to become Peter Kurt Wolf.

In October 1978, Pete joined the United States Coast Guard. He spent the next 22 years traveling the world and having adventures, spending over seven full years at sea. Pete served aboard the USCG Cutters Tahoma and Vigilant and was part of the USCG Group Moriches, providing Aids to Navigation up and down the northeastern seaboard.

Pete’s favorite times were attending lighthouses—he oversaw the renovation of lighthouses at Montauk Point, Fire Island, Boston Harbor Light, Cape Ann Light in Mass., and Horton’s Point on Long Island—and being stationed for a year on the remote, completely uninhabited island of Attu, the western-most island in the Aleutian chain—1,500 miles from Anchorage, Alaska; just 200 miles from Russia’s Bering Island.

Pete retired from the Coast Guard in August 2000 as a Chief Warrant Officer, specialized as a senior engineer. During his tenure, Chief Wolf earned the following commendations:

● USMC National Defense Medal and USMC Rifle Marksmanship Badge

● USCG Commendation Medal

● USCG Achievement Medal with one Gold Star

● USCG Unit Commendation Ribbon

● USCG Meritorious Commendation Ribbon with three Gold Stars

● USCG Bicentennial Unit Commendation Ribbon

● USCG Sharpshooter Rifle Ribbon,

● USCG “E” Ribbon

● National Defense Service Medal

● Humanitarian Service Medal

● USCG Special Operations Service Ribbon

● Navy “E” Ribbon

● USCG Sea Service Ribbon with two Bronze Stars, and Second, Third and Seventh

● USCG Good Conduct awards

The last 20 years of Pete’s life were spent under the Georgia and South Carolina sun. He served on the Friends of Hunting Island volunteer board as lighthouse coordinator, in charge of renovating and repairing the Hunting Island Lighthouse in S.C., frequently shared knowledge with other seafarers, and loved to watch old Westerns.

Pete is predeceased by his father Kurt, his mother Ursula, his brother Hans, his sister Margit, and his youngest nephew, “little Pete.” He is survived by his wife of almost twenty years, Jamie Wolf née Clauss, and her adult children Floyd, Pamela, and Nathaniel, his stepson, whom he first met when Nathaniel was six years old.

He is also survived by his nephew, Chet (Chester) Casaletta, Chet’s wife, Pam, their sons Derrick and Brandon, and Derrick’s son. He is survived, too, by his nephew Steve (Steven) Casaletta, his son, Steve, his daughter, Karina, and “little” Steve’s wife and children.

Pete is buried in the Beaufort National Cemetery in South Carolina, where his gravesite will be decorated with flags on Memorial Day and wreaths at Christmas. His headstone reads, “May an angel always be by your side.” Pete’s days of sadness and physical limitations are over, and he is reunited with all his favorite dogs, his big brother, and the rest of his family. Gute Reise, Chief!