Résumé

U.S. Navy, 1917-1918.

Draftsman, DeYoung and Roald, Architects, Portland, OR, 1924-1925.

Draftsman, Lucius and Cash, Architects, Portland, OR, 1925-1926.

Principal, George M. Wolff, Architect, Portland, OR, 1927-1932. To make money, Wolff worked for the WPA in Portland, drafting the city sewer system.

Partner, Cash and Wolff, Architects, Portland, OR, 1932-1941.

Partner, Wolff and [Truman E.] Phillips, Architects, Portland, OR, 1941-1952.

Partner, Wolff and Zimmer, 1954-1965; Wolff decreased his activity in the firm after a heart attack in 1959; he retired completely from the firm in 1965.

Partner (in name), Wolff-Zimmer-Gunsul-Frasca, Architects, 1966-1968.

Partner (in name), Wolff-Zimmer-Gunsul-Frasca-Ritter, Architects, Portland, OR,1968-1973.

Partner (in name), Wolff-Zimmer-Gunsul-Frasca, Architects, 1973- .

College

B.Arch., University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, c. 1923.

Relocation

George Melville Wolff was born in Portland, OR, on 07/04/1899.

He passed away in Clackamas County, OR, and was buried at the Finley-Sunset Hills Memorial Park, Portland, OR.

Children

Two children, 1 daughter, 1 son survived Wolff at his death in 1977.

Biographical Notes

Morris H. Whitehouse was a neighbor of Wolff's in a northwest neighborhood of Portland; he employed the young Wolff as part-time office boy, and the elder man served as an important role model for him affecting his decision to become an architect.

Wolff also became acquainted with Edgar F. Kaiser, Sr., (1908-1981), son of the shipyard-aluminum-insurance-automobile-real estate tycoon Henry J. Kaiser (1882-1967), in the early 1940s, and did many projects for the Kaisers' various commercial interests. This work included planning for shipyards in Oregon, Vancouver and Swan Island Shipyards, Worker's Housing at the Bonneville Dam in OR and WA, hospitals for the Kaiser Permanente health care organization, the real estate venture, Sue City, in Australia, and an automobile plant in Willow Run, MI, for the Kaiser-Fraser Automobile Company. Wolff and Zimmer designed the Bess Kaiser Hospital in Portland, opened in 1959.