Robert L. Wolfson, Sr., a former president of the Jewish Community Center when the JCC obtained what is now its Camp Sabra, and who was one of the original owners of the St. Louis Blues Hockey Team, died Friday, Feb. 2, 2007, at St. John’s Mercy Medical Center in Creve Coeur. He was 88 and a resident of Clayton at the time of his passing.

While serving as president of what was then known as the Jewish Community Centers Association in 1968-70, Mr. Wolfson played a key role in the purchase of Camp Wah Kon Dah, a privately-owned camping facility in the Ozarks, to replace the former JCC camp at Camp Hawthorn, which no longer had the capacity to serve the full summer away-camping needs of the Jewish community. Bill Kahn, then executive director of the JCCA, said, “Bob Wolfson was just the right kind of leader to bring about the acquisition of what became Camp Sabra for the Jewish community of St. Louis.”

Kahn, in a telephone interview from his Florida home, said, “Bob received word that Benny Kessler was interested in selling Camp Wah Kon Dah in the Ozarks, which he owned, to the Jewish community to provide the community with a replacement of the old JCC Camp Hawthorn. Bob agreed to contact a small number of generous donors, who came forward with the funds to buy the property, which became Camp Sabra. One of our major contributors was Ben Fixman, for whom the dining hall at Camp Sabra is named. Bob was also instrumental in creating camperships for kids who could not afford the camping fees to take part in Sabra and other programs. He was truly an outstanding leader and a true friend.”

Wolfson was also active in other Jewish communal programs, including having served as a board member of the Jewish Federation of St. Louis and the Barnes-Jewish Hospital Foundation.

Described as a “lifelong sports enthusiast,” Mr. Wolfson and two friends, Sidney Salomon, Jr. and Sid Salomon III and others worked to obtain the National Hockey League franchise which became the St. Louis Blues in l966. Sidney Salomon, Jr. also held prominet positions in the Jewish and general communities, including having served as general chairman of the Jewish Federation Campaign during that period.

During those early years, the Blues reached the Stanley Cup finals in each of their first three seasons in the old Arena, which Salomon renovated, and a waiting list for tickets occurred.

Bob Plager, who played on the first Blues team and who remains with them on radio and in community relations, was quoted in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch as calling Mr. Wolfson, “a good friend to everyone who played in those early days of hockey in St. Louis.”

Mr. Wolfson also played a key role in 1977 in helping orchestrate the sale of the Blues to the Ralston Purina corporation, which renamed the Arena the Checkerdome and assured the team would remain in St. Louis after the Salomon era.

Mr. Wolfson was born in Velva, N.D., and spent his young years in Minneapolis. He joined the U.S. Army after high school and served as a captain in India during World War II.

Mr. Wolfson was chairman of GEM, a chain of metropolitan discount stores that once had 50 locations around the United States. He also successfully lobbied legislators to change the old “Blue Laws” that prohibited retail businesses from opening on Sundays in St. Louis, recalled his daughter, Anne Wolfson of Town and Country.

Mr. Wolfson helped charter several area banks and owned several car dealerships, including Feld Chevrolet, Brentwood Volvo and Manchester Leasing. In 1993, Gov. Mel Carnahan appointed Mr. Wolfson as the first chairman of the Missouri Gaming Commission. He approved the expansion of several casinos in the St. Louis area and served until 1998.

In addition to his daughter, among the survivors are his wife, Ethel of Clayton; two sons, Andrew Wolfson of Palm Springs, Calif. and Town and Country, Robert Wolfson, Jr. of Aspen, Colo.; a stepdaughter, Jill Lee of Denver; two grandchildren and five step-grandchildren.

Funeral services were held Monday at Temple Israel, where Rabbi Mark L. Shook officiated and praised Mr. Wolfson for his many Jewish and general communal and civic activities. Burial followed at the New Mount Sinai Cemetery Mausoleum, 8430 Gravois Road, Affton.