Carolyn Wolf

Carolyn Josephine Cunningham Wolf passed away on February 27, 2026, in West Des Moines, Iowa. 

Carolyn was born on June 5, 1932, in Duncan, Oklahoma, to Mildred Hartenberger Cunningham and Martin Cunningham. The family lived between Oklahoma and Washington, D.C., eventually moving permanently to Washington where her father worked on Capitol Hill for an Oklahoma Congressman and her mother worked in the U.S. Customs Service. One of the most formative events of Carolyn’s life was the death of her mother in 1948, five days after giving birth to her brother, Mike. Carolyn was 15. Carolyn and her sister, Catherine, shared the responsibility of caring for Mike the first years of his life. After Carolyn married David Wolf in 1951, they lived with her father and Mike until her father remarried in 1956.

Carolyn and David called many places home during their life together: Washington, D.C.; Houston, Texas; Aurora and Golden, Colorado; Reno, Nevada; Mesa, Arizona; Orange, California; Beijing, China; Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Des Moines, Iowa. Luckily for Carolyn, she loved to travel, visiting most of the 48 continental states. She always ensured her children visited museums, historical sites, and great restaurants everywhere they went. She loved to cook, sew, knit, oil paint, and make quilts. If she loved you, she made you a quilt. She made countless quilts for her children and grandchildren. It is probably no coincidence that not long after she stopped making quilts, JOANN’s fabrics went into bankruptcy.

Her life was defined by deep faith, resilience, formidable strength, perseverance tempered with a little stubbornness, and devotion to those she loved. Carolyn always found purpose, even as circumstances around her changed. She formed many lasting friendships sustained through countless letters, phone calls, and shared faith. Carolyn was quietly, but fiercely loyal. Her standards of deep faith, study, loyalty, hard work, and caring for her family are powerful examples to her two children.

Carolyn was preceded in death by her parents; her sister, Catherine Strayhorn;

her brother Mike Cunningham; her husband, David; and her grandson, Alec Wolf. She is survived by her daughters, Wilma (John) Gajdel and Marilyn Wolf; two granddaughters, Anna (Joel) Laneville and Lydia (Karissa) Gajdel; and two great grandchildren, Jude and Adelaide Laneville.

Her family is grateful to the staff of Pine Acres Rehabilitation and Care Center and the Hospice caregivers at Hospice of the Midwest for the care they provided during the last years and months of Carolyn’s life. Pine Acres staff consistently demonstrated kindness, care, patience, and respect. Hospice of the Midwest staff lovingly surrounded Carolyn and her family with spiritual, emotional, and medical support. Carolyn will be interred along with her husband, David, alongside her father, Martin; brother, Mike; and stepmother, Viola, in Watonga, Oklahoma, at a later date.