William H. Wolf Jr., 76, veteran Phila. prosecutor

William H. Wolf Jr., 76, of Society Hill, a lawyer who prosecuted murderers and other felons and found resourceful ways to collect city taxes, died of complications from diabetes Friday, July 30, at Andorra Woods Healthcare Center in Whitemarsh.

In 1960, Mr. Wolf joined the District Attorney's Office. Appointed chief of the organized-crime division in 1966, he also prosecuted cases with First Assistant District Attorney Richard A. Sprague.

"I feel strongly that much of my success in the District Attorney's Office was because Bill was at my side," Sprague said. "He was an original thinker. He addressed problems from a new point of view. He was not afraid of a new approach. He was very bright. It was a pleasure always to be with him. He was fun."

In 1973, when Sprague was appointed special prosecutor in the Tony Boyle murder trial, Mr. Wolf and Pamela W. Higgins were his assistants.

Boyle, a former United Mine Workers of America president, was charged with the 1969 slayings of union rival Jock Yablonski and Yablonski's wife and daughter. Boyle was convicted of murder in 1974. He appealed and was convicted again in 1978, with Sprague, Mr. Wolf, and Higgins again handling the prosecution.

After leaving the District Attorney's Office in 1975, Mr. Wolf was a deputy city solicitor and used his talent as an "original thinker" to collect delinquent property and wage taxes.

In 1980, when he filed 100 suits in Municipal Court against property owners who owed taxes, he told The Inquirer: "Forty percent paid, and that's a hell of a return for a collection business."

He said that he would continue to sue to collect $138 million in back taxes, and that his office would cooperate with delinquents: "Nobody's getting banged around." In some cases, delinquents were allowed to pay one-third down and the balance within 90 days.

Mr. Wolf also battled New Jersey residents who worked at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard and refused to pay the city wage tax. In 1981, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that New Jersey residents who worked at federal facilities in Philadelphia had to pay the tax.

"We went after the spirit of the revolt," Mr. Wolf told The Inquirer. "They were fighting for what they thought was just. It was a good fight, like the Whiskey Rebellion. The point is, we won."

In the mid-1980s, Mr. Wolf returned to the District Attorney's Office, and for several years prosecuted white-collar crime. He then worked briefly in Sprague's law firm in Philadelphia before establishing a solo practice. He retired last year.

Mr. Wolf grew up in Northwest Philadelphia. He graduated from La Salle College High School, earned a bachelor's degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and earned a law degree from Penn. He served in the Army and was an attorney for the Mayor's Office for Information and Complaints before becoming an assistant district attorney.

His lifelong love of movies was influenced by his father, William Sr., who owned the Hill Theater in Chestnut Hill. The theater was one of the first in the region to feature art and foreign films.

Mr. Wolf wrote poetry that was published in literary and legal journals. "Bill had the soul of a Byron, a Shelley, or a Keats," Sprague said.

Mr. Wolf, who stopped drinking 35 years ago, "found great purpose helping people in the throes of alcohol and drug addiction," said a longtime friend, Charles Glackin. "Bill often took calls in the middle of the night to rescue an errant friend or give shelter to an alcoholic. He would give you the shirt off his back."

Mr. Wolf is survived by sons Max, William III, Peter, and Michael; a daughter, Laura; a sister; three grandchildren; and former wives Patricia Wolf, Kiki Olsen, and Elizabeth Cippon.

A memorial service will be held at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 25, at Old Pine Community Center, 401 Lombard St.

Memorial donations may be made to the M. Patricia Carroll Fund in care of Edward Fitzgerald, Seventh Floor, 1635 Market St., Philadelphia 19103, to assist lawyers struggling with substance abuse and mental-health issues.