Bob Wolfgang, 83, of Eagan, Minnesota passed away peacefully at N.C. Little Memorial Hospice in Edina on a sunny Sunday morning with the autumn colors at their most glorious and the air as fresh as a crisp apple.

Bob was born in Camden, New Jersey and grew up in Westfield, where he graduated from Westfield High School in 1960 and was a star football player. Bob graduated from Gettysburg College in 1964 with a degree in Economics. He was a member of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity and also played football for Gettysburg. An ROTC student, he was commissioned as Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army on June 7, 1964, and began a four-year tour of duty, assigned initially to the 101st Airborne Division at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, while taking Airborne and Ranger training at Ft. Benning in Georgia. In June of 1966, he left for Vietnam and was stationed in Bien Hoa as a First Lieutenant with the 173rd Airborne Brigade, which was the first U.S. Army ground formation deployed to South Vietnam. While in Vietnam, he was promoted to Captain and received a Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster “for outstanding duty during ground combat operations against enemy forces 19 February - 15 March, 1967, Republic of Vietnam.” He served his final year of service at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, teaching map reading and land navigation at the Ordnance Officer Candidate School. Later in life, Bob was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease as a result of Agent Orange exposure in Vietnam.

After his discharge from the Army, Bob accepted a sales position with Westvaco, a pulp and paper company. He trained with them in New Jersey then got his first assignment in Chicago in 1969. In 1970 he was promoted to Area Manager, selling printing papers to major accounts in the Twin Cities, Iowa and Nebraska. In 1982 he joined Walter G. Anderson, a folding carton company. Bob spent the rest of his successful sales career with them, landing major accounts such as Hormel, General Mills and Malt-O-Meal.

Bob was staunchly committed to supporting and honouring his fellow veterans and military families, including volunteering at the VA Medical Care Center in Minneapolis. In what he considered to be one of his most important achievements, Bob led the planning and fundraising to bring to life a memorial for the 173d Airborne at Ft. Benning, which was dedicated on Memorial Day weekend in 2010 to all who served in the Herd, past, present and future. In June 2010, Bob was granted the distinction of Distinguished Member of the 503d Infantry Regiment by Order of the Secretary of the Army in recognition of his efforts to build the new memorial, and for “his special place in regimental continuity, tradition and esprit de corp.”

Bob was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 50 years, Diane Rasmusson; sister Mary Lou Risley; parents Dorothy (Behlendorf) Wolfgang and Paul Wolfgang; and the dogs he and Diane treasured over the years, Spunky, Hans, Pepper, Mickey and Cammi. He will be dearly missed by his devoted children, Mike Wolfgang and Katie Wolfgang (Carman Lawrick), whom he shared with his first wife, Patricia (Wishart) Dower; grandchildren Ashley Wolfgang and C.C. Lawrick; granddog Goldie; and his many cherished family, friends and brothers and sisters in arms across the United States and around the world. Bob will be interred at Ft. Snelling National Cemetery in Minnesota in Spring 2026.

Rest easy, Sky Soldier.

Bob’s children would like to encourage donations to the Wounded Warrior Project and the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research in his honour.