Avalon’s legendary Beach Patrol Captain Murray Wolf retires after 65 years

After 65 years as a lifeguard in Avalon, and more than a half century as captain of the Jersey Shore town’s beach patrol, Murray Wolf, 82, has finally turned in his whistle.

The no-nonsense fixture in Avalon who famously tangled with radio personality and beach-badge evader Angelo Cataldi back in the day and weathered hurricanes and a pandemic, will cede control of the beach patrol to his son, Lt. Matthew Wolf, and Lt. Ryan Black, the borough announced Monday.

(Wolf points out that his first season was 1955, and so his tenure actually spanned 66 seasons).

Matthew Wolf will be the new chief of the patrol; Black, the new captain.

Wolf’s rank never changed from captain, but he commanded the Avalon lifeguards and the beach itself with military precision. He coached his sons and others in the annual summer ritual at the Jersey Shore, the lifeguard races, notably in 2015, when Avalon unexpectedly won the South Jersey Championships. Longport won the next four, though, and the races were canceled in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Wolf said Monday he was planning to retire after 2019, but the Avalon patrol lost its hometown David J. Kerr Memorial lifeguard race “on one kid’s mistake,” after eight straight seasons of victories. Wolf said he wanted to see the patrol back to victory in the Kerrs, named for an Avalon lifeguard who passed away from cancer, but they were also canceled in 2020.

“In 2019, we lost by a point because of one race,” Wolf said. “We got disqualified. [The guard] went to the wrong flag. I was going to come back and finish that off and that would be it.”

Avalon Borough Manager Scott Wahl said Wolf just decided, “It was time.”

“He said Avalon’s been great to me, I’ve loved every minute of it. It’s just time to retire,” Wahl said.

Avalon Mayor Martin Pagliughi said in a statement. “Simply put, there’s only one Murray Wolf and Avalon was extremely fortunate to have him as an important part of our public safety team.”

Some, like Cataldi, who was famously shown no mercy in a 1999 Avalon beach-tag dispute and railed about it on the radio for years, had little patience for Wolf’s brand of beach enforcement. There was also Frank Wilson, formerly of Chester County, who sued Avalon in 2001 and won $175,000, driven arguably mad after being repeatedly whistled out of the water when he tried to swim after 5 p.m.

Cataldi, interviewed Monday, was still holding a grudge.

“I feel that the first time in 66 years the Avalon beaches are safe again,” Cataldi said. “The bully of Avalon is finally hanging them up, long overdue.”

He said he would even consider returning to the beaches of Avalon after years of self-imposed exile. However upon hearing who was succeeding Wolf, he hesitated.

“His son? Oh no,” Cataldi said. “Well, we can only hope his son is not following in the footprints of his father, and that he understands these beaches are to be enjoyed by people, not to be run over by a man who is the oldest beach bully in America.”

But others, including his sons and many on the squad, even those who were disciplined for cell phone and other infractions, revered (or feared) Wolf and marveled at his longevity.

Ventnor’s longtime chief Stan Bergman calls him “the warrior.”

“When I started, I was the youngest,” Wolf said, in a 2016 interview. “Now I’m the oldest. It’s just what I do.”

Last summer, still riding his bike to and from headquarters, Wolf dealt with outbreaks of coronavirus that sidelined at least two dozen of his guards, and took an even more proactive approach than usual to keep people, and his lifeguards, protected.

Wolf rose to the position of captain in 1967. He spent 50 years as a physical-education teacher in Pleasantville, and continued to ride his old cruiser bike to the 32nd Street headquarters, where he supervised his 80-plus guards.

In the 2016 interview, Wolf made it clear that there would be no mellowing in his approach. “My approach is always the same,” he said. “It says Lifeguard on Duty. It’s a duty.”

Monday, he said, he couldn’t predict whether the new regime would continue his tough approach. He noted that nobody ever drowned during guarded hours on Avalon’s beaches in a half-century under his watch.

“You know, I don’t care what they do,” Wolf said. “We had two goals. The first one was, nobody drowns. And to actually win the Kerr and win the South Jerseys.

“It was a great ride,” said Wolf, still a year-round Avalon resident. “To have a job here in your own town and have your sons working for you as lieutenants, it was just a great job to have.”

Wolf laughed off the years of Cataldi rage, and insisted, “Oh Angelo. He’s a lot of fun.”