by Ryan Labadens, U.S. Navy Public Affairs

The Naval Construction Battalion Center (NCBC) is mourning the loss of one of its own this week, a former Seabee and long-serving member of the Gulfport Navy base itself. Jeff Wolfe, who worked as a containerization division officer with Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP) Fleet Logistics Center Jacksonville (FLCJ) Gulfport onboard NCBC Gulfport, passed away Saturday, Aug. 28, 2021, after a battle with a lengthy illness.

While Wolfe was born in Marianna, Pennsylvania, he was a decades-long resident of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. He served for four years as a Seabee and logged 38 years of civil service at NCBC Gulfport.

The impact of his loss was felt not only by his family and friends outside the fence line, but by those within the NCBC community as well. Rodney Duggins, site director for NAVSUP FLCJ Gulfport and the NCBC Gulfport supply officer, spoke highly of Wolfe, not only in regards to his work performance, but to his character and the personal impact he had on those who worked with him.

“He was an exceptional supervisor, who always had his act together and did extremely well managing his organization, providing outstanding service to our customers,” said Duggins.

One of Wolfe’s main jobs included making sure cargo containers were packed, stored, delivered and unpacked properly for delivery to various customers, including the Seabee battalions on base, who often received various shipments of tools and construction equipment for their missions.

Wolfe also was responsible for maintaining accountability of the materials that were stored and delivered.

Kathy Grindstaff, deputy site director for NAVSUP FLCJ Gulfport, worked with Wolfe since 1987 and noted both how kind and supportive he was, and how well he brought people together to work as a team.

“We go way back to when I was just an assistant analyst, and he told me that one day I would be deputy director – he had that much confidence in me. We were a great team together, and he formed a great team at containerization,” said Grindstaff. “He was very kind-hearted, a good soul… and he was so good to his folks over there. He is really going to be missed.”

Delores Teddleton, a NAVSUP FLCJ Gulfport containerization supervisor who worked with Wolfe since 1990, mentioned that Wolfe’s professionalism and love for the Seabees was easily matched by his practical jokes and sense of humor.

“He was just a fun person who loved to joke around. I remember one time he had put one of those motion-sensitive Halloween hands in the microwave, and when I opened it up the hand was just jumping around and it scared the heck out of me,” laughed Teddleton. “But even though we had fun, he was serious about the work though – he wanted everything done right because he loved the Seabees so much, he had a big heart for them. He would always tell us, ‘Guys, we have to get this right, because what if they had a major event where they needed this one item, and it wasn’t there.’ He never wanted anything like that to happen, so as a supervisor he always wanted to make sure everything was done right.”

Duggins also commented on Wolfe’s affable personality and diligence in his work.

“He was an easy-going and reliable person who could always be depended on to get the job done, and who didn’t get easily excited about things. He was the kind of person who would not just bring you a problem he was facing, but he also brought solutions,” said Duggins. “We’re going to miss him because he was a good guy.”

Funeral services for Wolfe were held Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2021.