Rex Wolfley

Samuel Rex Wolfley was born in Afton on May 17, 1942 to Ernest Samuel Wolfley Jr and Wanda Walton Wolfley. 

He loved telling his family stories about growing up in Turnerville where he would ski in the winter and get into trouble with his friends and brothers in the summer.

When he was around 15 years old the family moved to Freedom.  It was in Freedom on the school bus that he met and fell in love with Marsha Barber.  After high school he served a brief mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  When he returned they were married in the Idaho Falls Temple.  They made their home in Freedom and rarely left, unless it was a quick trip to Afton or Idaho Falls for farm equipment parts or for groceries.

Rex loved horses and loved to ride.  When he was older and could no longer sit on a horse, he still kept his good saddle and bridle nearby, just in case.  

Because of this it would be no surprise that he loved old western movies and never seemed to get tired from watching them.  He also loved Country music, and never understood why Marsha didn’t like it when he played country songs really loud on his Bose stereo!

Most of his life he either milked cows and raised crops or worked for the local cheese factory in Thayne.  One of his first jobs after he was married to Marsha was hauling milk cans for the Cheese Factory.

In 1973, he and his Dairy business partner had their 15 minutes of fame when a lightning strike killed most of the dairy herd. The news spread all over the country, with letters of condolence and even money sent from places as far away as New York City.

His final working years were spent at the Star Valley Cheese Factory, making mozzarella cheese and butter.  

He loved to farm and enjoyed being out on the tractor.  When he was older and stopped farming, the old farmer in him kept him busy mowing all of the weeds around the house on his riding mower, usually with his cowboy hat on. 

He is preceded in death by his high school sweetheart, Marsha, and is survived by his children: Ward, Robin, Travis and Rod, and 14 grandchildren.