Word was received here today of the death of Joel David Wolfsohn, president of the Jewish Community Council of Greater Washington, and a former U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Interior. Mr. Wolfsohn, 60, died of a heart attack while attending a family reunion in Gary, Ind.
Mr. Wolfsohn, a native of Chicago and newspaperman there in his youth, became an attorney. In 1934, he came to Washington and assumed duties as executive secretary of the National Power Commission, forerunner of the present Federal Power Commission.
During the Hitler era in Europe, Mr. Wolfsohn left the Government to serve in London as European director of the American Jewish Committee. He directed that organizations work in aiding Jewish refugees in post-war Europe and was the Committee’s Washington representative in 1949 and 1950.
He later became Assistant Secretary of Interior and served in that capacity until 1953. Former Secretary of Interior Oscar Chapman, under whom Mr. Wolfsohn served, said today that “he was one of the most conscientious public servants and most loyal men I ever knew.”
Mr. Wolfsohn is survived by his wife and a daughter.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
