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Growing up to be Governor, a look into Tom Wolf`s hometown

Mount Wolf resident Mary Toomey plays the piano. She also makes a mean cup of Earl Grey tea, but the thing she’s most proud of is being a teacher. Her most famo...

Mount Wolf resident Mary Toomey plays the piano. She also makes a mean cup of Earl Grey tea, but the thing she’s most proud of is being a teacher. Her most famous student is Governor Tom Wolf. "I am so proud that sometimes my husband is so afraid my hat won't fit because my head will grow too large,” said Toomey.

She has known the Governor since he was a baby and was close with his parents and grandparents. When he was about ten years old she taught him how to sing in the church choir. Toomey said he was a great singer, but not a big talker. "He was quite a listener and he always wanted to learn. What are you thinking? That's what he always wanted to know,” said Toomey.

York’s Mayor Kim Bracey met the Governor after she got out of the Air Force back in 1994. She said the man she met more than twenty years ago hasn’t changed, except for one thing. "His hair was a little darker, so was mine! But he was still the person that cared about people,” said Bracey.

Others who have worked with him echo the same sentiments. York County State Representative Kevin Schreiber said Wolf is a businessman at heart, which was demonstrated during the financial crisis back in 2008. "Rather than look at the expense and the revenue and say we need to cut, cut, cut he basically doubled down and said we need to expand we need to grow,” said Schreiber.

Under the Governor’s leadership the Wolf Organization has grown into a company worth more than $200 million dollars with two hundred and fifty employees, many of whom are in York. Wolf’s company is now the number one kitchen cabinet supplier in the country. "He doesn't have to do this. He could continue to be very successful in the Wolf Organization and continue to run his company,” said Schreiber. However he didn’t. As for why? Mrs. Toomey said it’s because he genuinely cares about the Commonwealth. She said "what you see is what you get, he's a real person."

 

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