Woolfe Family
Jacob Woolfe, who arrived in Calgary in 1905 from England, had wide- ranging skills
As a builder and cabinet maker, Jacob played a key role in the construction of the Beth Jacob Synagogue in 1911.
As a gunsmith, he opened a small but respected gun shop, where he built and repaired firearms for the Royal North West Mounted Police.
Harry Woolfe, his son, met many of the RNWMP members at his father’s shop, and in 1916 Harry travelled to Regina to join the Force. He is believed to have been the first Jewish “Mountie.” Later active in the film distribution business, Harry Woolfe was the oldest surviving RNWMP veteran at the time of his death in Vancouver in 1994.
He was married to vivacious nonagenarian Debbie (nee Marks) a daughter of Calgary Jewish pioneers Isaac and Leah Marks.
Other Woolfe children are Florrie (Brown), Aaron (in Miami), Fran and Louis.