Bruce Wolf, a 73-year-old former Alaska ophthalmologist, died in a car accident Dec. 21 in Blaine, Washington.
Wolf, who had a private practice in Fairbanks for many years, was struck and killed while walking his dog along the Semiahmoo Parkway, The Northern Light, a Blaine newspaper, reported. The dog ran onto the road and Wolf was trying to catch him when a car driven by an 86-year-old Blaine resident struck him. The driver was not cited.
Wolf served two terms on the Blaine City Council, and both he and his wife, Sandy, had remained active in local affairs. They had recently celebrated their 49th wedding anniversary by building sets for a local musical theater production.
Wolf started his career in Anchorage in 1970 and often took part in clinics in rural Alaska. His wife, Sandy, told the newspaper of a trip to St. Lawrence Island when Wolf fashioned a pair of glasses with test lenses and duct tape for a patient.
"The old man wouldn't let Bruce take them off," said Sandy. "It was really something to see him work his way slowly around the room and see people he'd known all his life for the first time."
Wolf's daughter, Amy Bearden, who has an optometry practice in Bellingham, Washington with her husband, said it was because of that story that she chose her profession.
The Blaine newpaper has more details.