Jonathan Wolf, 19; student who overcame his disability

JONATHAN WOLF

Jonathan Wolf was an Eagle Scout, stage manager for the Tewksbury Memorial High School drama club, and a budding entrepreneur with a successful online store that sold used books and video games. And he did it all from a wheelchair.

Mr. Wolf was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy as a child, but never let his disability serve as an obstacle, friends and family said. From the age of 10, Mr. Wolf used a wheelchair to get around. He was a local ambassador for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and a sophomore at Rivier College in Nashua.

He died June 16 of complications from dilated cardiomyopathy at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he had been hospitalized for two months. He was 19.

Mr. Wolf was born in Winchester in 1988 and graduated from high school in 2006.

His college roommate - John Nicoloro, a clinical psychology student from Cambridge - said the two spent a lot of time "Johning it up," a term Mr. Wolf coined to describe the time they spent hanging out. They regularly played video games, went to the gym, and talked about their favorite music and stand-up comedians.

"The reason why he was in a wheelchair never really mattered, because he didn't complain about it," Nicoloro said. "The thing about his disability was that he didn't care about it, and if he didn't care about it, why should we?"

Mr. Wolf was close to his sister, Alexa Garland of Billerica. Although she was 9 years older, Garland said, the two had a strong bond because she was his personal attendant while working for North Shore Arc, which provides services for the disabled.

"It wasn't just 'I'll see you at Mom's house Sunday for dinner,' " Garland said of their relationship.

Their closeness, though, did not prevent occasional sibling bickering.

"He and I had very different opinions; we butted heads on everything," she said, then rattled off some of the points of jovial contention. "We had different tastes in music. He loved antique furniture, and I loved everything new."

He enjoyed the outdoors and in 2007 reached the rank of Eagle Scout. As a member of Troop 49, he went on camping trips and developed strong friendships.

His friends would go with Mr. Wolf to flea markets, where he bought used books and video games that he resold online for profit. And his friends were always there to give Mr. Wolf the extra help he needed. "His guy friends were big and strong, and they'd pick him up and carry him into the car or up the stairs," Garland said. "His disability was never an obstacle for him."

When Mr. Wolf was a student at John F. Ryan Elementary School, he wrote to Superintendent Christine McGrath to ask that the district install a button to automatically open the school doors. When McGrath told him there was not enough money, Mr. Wolf went before the School Committee, McGrath said, which instructed her to find funds in the budget to install the device. Over the years, McGrath said, the two became good friends.

"The irony, and it really speaks volumes about our relationship, is that I broke my foot last year, and the e-mail from him was 'How do you like those doors now?' " McGrath said.

At Rivier College, Mr. Wolf majored in psychology and studied marketing, hoping to start his own company. He was a member of the Business Students Association and publicity officer for the Multicultural Student Organization.

In addition to his sister, Mr. Wolf leaves his parents, Thomas and Patricia (Ivas) Wolf of Tewksbury; his maternal grandparents, Vito and Marilyn Ivas of Tewksbury; and his paternal grandmother, Phyllis Wolf of Rockledge, Fla.

Services have been held.