By:Jeff Lipton
Wolff held the distinction of being the oldest living valedictorian of Lawrence High. She was the subject of a front-page story in the Nassau Herald on July 10, 1997, when she was invited back to the high school, one of a host of valedictorians invited to celebrate the school's 100th anniversary.
In the Herald story, Wolff vividly recalled her high school days, when she was a member of the 1921 Lawrence girls' basketball team that captured the Long Island championship. Standing 5 feet 6, she played center. "It was fun, lots of fun," she told the Herald in 1997.
"My life," she added, "has been a happy blessing. I've been healthy. That's most important."
At age 15, Wolff moved with her family to Cedarhurst from Manhattan.
She served as president of the Number Five School Parent Teachers Association as well as the Lawrence High School PTA in the 1930s, and was president of the Lawrence Central Council PTA in 1938.
During World War II, Wolff volunteered as a Red Cross ambulance driver, transporting wounded soldiers from a Long Beach drop point to a Mitchell Field infirmary.
She was a founding member of Temple Sinai of Long Island in Lawrence, and president of the Temple Israel of Lawrence sisterhood. She was chairwoman of the Peninsula Dental Clinic and a volunteer at Meadowbrook Hospital.
In her later years, Wolff volunteered at what was then Franklin General Hospital in Valley Stream (now the Franklin Hospital Medical Center), and at the Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library and the Inwood Senior Center. She was also involved with the Woodmere Senior Center.
Wolff's father, one of New York City's most respected wholesale hardware suppliers, was mayor of the Village of Cedarhurst in the 1930s and was responsible for having the village's sewer system installed. "Her father was the ruler of the clan," said Wolff's son, Burton Kahn, 80, of Hewlett. "He was autocratic, honest, clever and intuitive. She picked up all these assets of his. She became the matriarch of the family.
"She was very knowledgeable as to politics and current events," her son added. "She could discuss it with any casual acquaintance, who eventually became her friend because of her knowledge."
Kahn said his mother would be remembered most as an "alert, inquisitive and friendly person who always had a kind word to say."
Wolff was predeceased by a daughter, Jane Wynn, of Boynton Beach, Fla., and is survived by Kahn and his wife, Betty Ann, four grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
Services were held at Temple Sinai last Sunday, officiated by Rabbi Paula Winnig, spiritual leader of Temple Sinai.
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