The Portland Police Bureau has released more information about the fatal crash that happened over the holiday. They say a person was driving a compact car southbound on Southeast Cesar E Chavez Boulevard prior to striking the woman who was walking. As I reported the day before Thanksgiving, the woman was hit and killed somewhere near the intersection of of Cesar Chavez and SE Harrison.
We now know the victim was 87-year-old Grey Wolfe, a revered Portlander who was known by many in our community as a mental health counselor. On her business website, Wolfe said she spent the last 25 years of her life in that practice. Before that she was a school teacher in Baltimore and she was also a restauranteur who co-owned, cooked, and baked at two Portland restaurants — Genoa and Bread and Ink. She also raised three children.
One of her children posted about the tragedy on Bluesky on Friday. “My one-and-only mother was hit & killed by a car on Wednesday,” someone with the username “Ursula” shared. “I am all the adjectives you can imagine: shattered, devastated, bereft. And no hour has passed in the last 48 where I have not felt unbelievably lucky, overwhelmed with gratitude for all the time I got to be her daughter.”
Below is an excerpt from Wolfe’s obituary:
Grey Wolfe died in the early hours of the morning on November 26, 2025. She was returning home from her daily walk to Mt. Tabor in southeast Portland, Oregon, when she was hit by a car. She was 87 years old.
For the last four decades, Grey was a therapist, working with individuals and couples. Grey’s practice was at the center of her life. To her, the meaning of life was meaningful relationships – with her family, friends, and clients.
Grey’s previous careers included co-owning and cooking at Portland restaurants (the Genoa and Bread and Ink Café) and teaching middle and high school social studies in Baltimore.
In 2012 Grey lost her beloved partner, Howard Waskow. Grey’s family includes her children Ben, Morgan, Ursula, Dan, Saul, Ilan and their partners Tim, Joel, Lizzie, and Meg; and eight grandchildren, Will and his partner Kimmy, Milo, Blaire, Jack, Aaron, Emily, Maya, and Harper.
Donations in Grey’s memory may be made to Northwest Abortion Access Fund https://nwaafund.org/donate.
Wolfe’s death should send a message to city leaders: it’s long overdue for traffic to be calmed on Calle Cesar Chavez. Portland has lost too many people because of its car-centric design and tragedies like this will continue until people are forced to drive more slowly.
