Jeffrey L. Wolfe 

Two of Jeff Wolfe’s favorite things were journalism and running. He combined them more than once, including in a 1997 column for the Courier-Post, where he was a sportswriter for 14 years.

“If you’re tired of looking in the mirror and not liking what you see,” he wrote, “tired of all the quick-fix diets that haven’t worked, or maybe just plain tired, then running may be for you.”

The Gloucester County resident and father of two sons died last month at 62, after a career and life making friends with his kindness and ever-present smile.

“He was always gracious with his time, kind in his spirit and the epitome of a professional journalist when it mattered,” recalled Michael Edmondson, a cross-country coach, in an online tribute. 

According to his obituary, Jeff was an Indiana native who rang bells for the Salvation Army before beginning his journalism career as a writer and editor for publications in his home state. He moved on to the Courier-Post in Cherry Hill, where co-workers remembered him fondly.

Ryan Lawrence was fresh out of college when he joined the paper. He described Jeff as an “endlessly positive” co-worker.

“Jeff and I mostly bonded over baseball – he’s been in my fantasy baseball league for 20-plus years – and he was someone I looked up to, because he really knew his stuff and was a tough competitor,” Lawrence recalled.

“But Jeff was mostly an unselfish team player, someone who always had time to talk to you if you had a question and someone easy with a compliment if there was something you wrote that he liked.”

Happy memories of raising cattle in the 4H Club, according to his obituary, served Jeff well when he joined the state Department of Agriculture as a public information officer. A fellow runner there remembered his advice.

“He was one of the first people to welcome me when I began at the … Department of Agriculture,” shared Sara Mellor in her online tribute. “We shared running status with each other regularly, and he inspired me to push myself, to learn to run faster.”

Jeff’s passion for running began in high school and included seven marathons and 10 half-marathons. He cheered on his sons at their track and cross-country meets. And he offered advice on the sport, always happily – and in print. 

“As a form of exercising, running doesn’t offer a quick fix,” he acknowledged in that 1997 Courier Post article. “It can be a little painful, especially at first. But it can make a positive difference in your life.”

Sources: Tribute Archive, Courier Post, Smith Funeral Home, Newspapers.com

Angela Rose “Angie” Coia

It can be a small world in the obituaries. So even if you didn’t live in South Jersey, you might have heard how Angela Rose “Angie” Coia made it to the White House.

The Hammonton native, who died last month at 85, was a former Catholic school teacher who ran two businesses with her husband, Eddie, the Country Farm Market and Mama D’s Catering in nearby Atco. 

Her homemade pasta was described as legendary. That’s saying something in a town that has one of the highest percentages of Italians in the state.

“I drove from Mays Landing just to buy Angie’s – Mama D’s homemade pasta,” noted Aline Dix in an online tribute. The trip took 25 minutes.

Angie earned a trip to the White House years later as the aunt of Kellyanne Conway, a consultant and pollster who was a close aide to Donald Trump in his first administration. GiGi – as she called Angie – was the sister of Conway’s mother, Diane DiNatale Fitzpatrick. 

In her 2022 memoir, “Here’s the Deal,” Conway described a father who was mostly missing from her life and the “selfless women in housecoats” who surrounded her with love like a fortress: her grandmothers, Antoinette and Claire; GiGi; and two other aunts, Rita and Marie.

Women’ libbers they were not. Grit they had. 

“These women didn’t preach equality,” Conway remembered, “they lived it. Why march in a parade or label yourself when your back door swings open for all comers, your heart and home open to all?”

A home open to her niece got Angie Coia to the president’s house.  

“They knelt for the Lord and stood for the flag,” Conway wrote of the females in her life, displaying their true allegiance with photos of the Last Supper and the latest pope, and caring for a child who ended up working in the White House.

“This circle of selfless women,” Conway concluded, “took all they had inside them and lavished it on me.”

Angie lavished her love on others, too. 

“Everyone loved Aunt Angie,” said Debbie Konawel in her online tribute. “She’d do whatever she could for anyone.”

Sources: Carnesale Funeral Home, Legacy.com 

Inside the obits

Many obituaries note the importance of family as credit to a recently deceased person, but Teresa “Terry” Bowman’s obituary in The Sun goes a bit further. It describes the 65-year-old Gloucester Township resident’s life as a “testament to the power of love and the importance of family.” Terry’s happy work as the receptionist for a nursing home and her love of Smokey the cat and the beach are also noted. But for pure “joy and excitement,” nothing beat some of her most memorable moments at her favorite casino, the obit adds, including the moments in her last day there: May 19, the day she died. (Sources: The Sun, Earle Funeral Home)

Stanley Robert “Bob” Freidel was a Lion of a man. Literally. The family law attorney – who died last month at 72 – was a member of Lions Clubs in more than one place for three decades: Washington Township; Deptford; Medford Lakes; and Clearwater, Florida. He arranged balloon events and devoted time to hunger relief. And he started the Lions’ annual Strides Walk for Type 1 diabetes in 2016. “He took great joy in helping,” Bob’s obit notes. An online tribute came from another Lion, Ryan Striton. “He was very generous and will be missed,” Striton wrote of Bob. As for sheer down time, according to friend Ron Martin’s post, there were “years of good times” – and a fondness for karaoke. (Sources: Legacy.com, Bradley Stow Funeral Home)

Joseph E. Morin didn’t just love cars: He took them in when they were broken and restored their “former glory,” as his obituary in The Sun newspapers puts it. In his auto body trade, the 67-year-old – who died last month – did his work with “a craftsman’s skill and a perfectionist’s eye,” and loved the sound of a well-tuned engine. Joe had firm faith in the Philadelphia Eagles. And while he wasn’t always in the best of health, noted an online tribute, he met his ailments with a smile and a joke. “Joe had a way of connecting with people and leaving a lasting impression,” the obit notes. It also describes Joe as someone who believed in hard work, had strong opinions and had “an enduring commitment to what he loved most. We’re guessing that would be cars. For him, Joe’s obit points out, “cars were more than machines; they were stories waiting to be told.” (Sources: The Sun, Legacy.com)

The Good Life appears twice a month. To suggest someone who recently passed away for a tribute,
email Christina Mitchell at cmitchell@donnelly.media. Please describe in a few words something about that person’s life.