After attending local schools in Philadelphia, Joseph Wolfe attended Roman Catholic High School and Saint Charles College. His theological education was at Saint Charles Seminary, Overbrook, Pennsylvania, and he was ordained a Catholic Priest on May 24, 1906. He served as assistant pastor to a number of parishes. At the outbreak of World War I, Father Wolfe applied to be an Army chaplain, being first assigned to Camp Meade in Maryland, and then to France with the American Expeditionary Forces. His letters home were often published in the “Catholic Standard and Times,” giving insight into the conditions that faced the American forces at the front lines. Discharged on May 21, 1919, he returned to Saint PatrickÕs Parish in Philadelphia, and also as served as National Chaplain of the American Legion. In the late 1930s he became a chaplain with the Pennsylvania National Guard but was discharged before World War II began.