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Summer  FEATURE  2010
D.C. Wolfe: Musician, engineer, photographer
by CLARA B. COX M.A. '84
During four years at Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute (popularly called VPI, today's Virginia Tech), DeWitt Clinton "D.C." Wolfe Jr. of Big Stone Gap, Va., a civil engineering major, kept his camera close at hand. Wolfe compiled his photos and memorabilia into two photo albums that give us a glimpse of life on campus in the World War I era.

The Southwest Virginian and 1921 graduate moved through the ranks in the corps of cadets, from a private during his freshman year to band captain his senior year. The 1921 yearbook, The Bugle, praised his efforts: "Although 'D.C.' rules the band with an iron hand, his absolute fairness and impartiality to all have won for him many friends."

Three years after graduating, Wolfe married Ruth Mildred Irvin, and the couple had one son. By 1929, he was living in Jefferson City, Mo., working as an assistant bridge engineer for the state highway department. Not long afterward, he was lured away by Sverdrup and Parcel Corporation, a civil engineering firm that focused on bridge design, becoming a partner in the firm in 1936. Wolfe, who had moved to Atherton, Calif., probably to manage a branch office, retired in 1966. He died in 1991 at the age of 92.

HISTORY AND HISTORICAL DATA OF VIRGINIA TECH, an updated and expanded edition of the Historical Data Book first published in 1972, is now online.

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