Sally Wolfe

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Sally Wolfe (Sarah Christine Wolfe) was an Irish medical missionary who served in China from 1915 to 1951. Born on Christmas Day in 1885 in Ireland, she came from a devout Methodist family and trained as a doctor at University College Cork. After earning honors in her medical studies, she worked at the Royal Samaritan Hospital in Glasgow before leaving for China in 1915 to follow what she believed was God’s calling.

In Hankou, Wolfe joined Jubilee Women’s Hospital, where she treated patients, performed obstetric and surgical work, and taught Bible classes for women and children. She also traveled to villages to help unbind girls’ feet, a practice Wolfe opposed. She spent time in Zhongxiang and other towns providing care for destitute women and children, and she had four furloughs during her stay: 1921–1922, 1927, 1934–1935, and 1941. Wolfe adopted three Chinese children—Suteh (1925), Johan (mid- to late-1920s), and Futeh (1931)—and cared for them until after she left China.

Wolfe’s years in China were marked by political upheaval, including the fall of the Qing dynasty, the Warlord Era, the Chinese Civil War, and World War II. She faced real danger during clashes and searches but remained dedicated to her work and to the people she served. In 1951, she left China, convinced that foreign missionaries were harming the Chinese Church’s standing with the rising Communist government.

After leaving China, Wolfe spent a year in Dublin with her niece Betty, then moved to Canada, where she lived until 1957. She worked at Cold Lake Hospital and helped run a nursing home in Elk Point, Alberta, but later suffered a hip injury. In 1975, Sally Wolfe returned to Cork, Ireland, where she lived at St. Luke’s Home until she died on 15 July 1975 at the age of 89.