Family can�t understand drowning

By Steven P. Wagner

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The Forum - 07/09/2003

When Rodney Wolf�s family heard he jumped into a lake to save a frantic 6-year-old boy, they weren�t surprised.

But loved ones are baffled why he sunk into Lake Itasca before others could pull him out of the water.

Wolf, 32, of Mapleton, N.D., drowned Sunday evening while visiting Itasca State Park in Clearwater County, Minn.

�He was a big-hearted person,� Wolf�s sister, Barb, said Tuesday.

�He was always there for people when you needed something,� she said. �He didn�t have nothing. All he had to offer people was himself.�

Her brother was a good swimmer, she said, and the news from authorities shocked loved ones.

�We couldn�t understand how he drowned,� said Barb, 44, of Mapleton. �He knew how to swim. We�ll never know that.�

The family learned about Wolf�s accident nearly 5� hours after it happened, when authorities called to say they had called off the search for his body, she said.

The call came as the first news to loved ones that Wolf was missing, Barb said.

But authorities also want to know why Wolf drowned. They�ve asked for an autopsy.

His body was sent to St. Paul and autopsy results are expected in about two weeks, said Clearwater County Attorney Kip Fontaine.

�He was trying to comfort a child who was upset or scared,� Fontaine said after reviewing incident reports. �I would say he (Wolf) got tired.�

Weather conditions at the time were ideal for swimming. It was hot and humid with light winds at the popular recreational lake, said John Ludwig, assistant manager at Itasca State Park.

�There�s a lot of activity on the lake, especially when it�s warm,� he said. �It�s comfortable swimming. Most of the lake is 15 to 20 feet deep.�

A press release issued by Fontaine says:

Wolf had been on a pontoon with Mary Jo Reppen of Mapleton and her 6-year-old child when they stopped the motor to allow the boy into the water with a life jacket.

The child became scared after he started to drift away from the pontoon. Without a life jacket, Wolf jumped into the lake to help the boy out of the water.

However, the boy remained scared and Reppen also jumped into the water without a life jacket.

When Wolf reached the boy, the child struggled with him before Reppen reached the two, Barb said.

�Another boat came up and saved those two and when they turned around to get Rodney, he had already disappeared,� she said.

Clearwater County Sheriff�s officials received a 911 call at 5:07 p.m. to report Wolf missing. Search and rescue teams looked for him until dark and resumed their efforts the following day. Authorities recovered his body about 9 a.m. Monday.

There isn�t any evidence showing Wolf was injured while in the water, Fontaine said.

However, the pontoon hadn�t been anchored and it drifted away from the three people in the water, he said.

The drowning marks the first at the lake in more than a dozen years. Ludwig said there hasn�t been a drowning since he began working at the park in 1990.

In the 1980s, Wolf attended Fargo South High School. He had been working as a farmhand, enjoyed the outdoors and began dating Reppen in January. Wolf also loved his 10-year-old daughter and �devoted his life to her,� Barb said.

Wolf�s brother, 48-year-old Douglas, died in his sleep last year, making the tragedy over the Fourth of July weekend even more painful.

�It was 11 months and two days since Doug died,� Barb said. �It hasn�t been a good year.�

I love this article about my uncle. Fox news came and interviewed my mother. I just wish Rodney was still here, I know he is up in heaven smiling down at this though. He would be happy

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