Lavern A. "Coley" Cole, 79, passed away Friday, April 27, 2012 at the Golden Living Center in Franklin, NE. Coley was born Nov. 14, 1932, in Smith County, Kan., to Verdia and Alvia Cole.
On June 23, 1963, he married Sondra Bose.
Survivors are: wife of almost 49 years; daughters, Lisa Worley and her special friend, Phil, of Grand Island and Lori Clark and her husband, Anthony, of Lincoln; son, David Cole of Franklin; grandchildren, Tiffany Wilson, Abby Chadwick, Madison Drame, Emily Eckley and Kinsey Clark; cousins, Kay Cole and his wife, Ruth, of Keizer, Ore., and Ellen Nutter and her husband, Larry, of Stanton; and other relatives and many friends.
In 1933, his father, a World War I veteran, became ill and was sent to the Veterans Hospital in Fort Lyons, Colo., where he remained for 37 years. Three years later, Lavern and his mother moved to his grandparents' farm southeast of Franklin, where he loved spending time with his grandparents.
Lavern and his mother moved to Franklin in fall 1938, and he started school. It was then that Lavern met his best friend - a neighbor named Kenny Morrison - who stood by his side to the end. Lavern and Kenny kept each other in and out of trouble from elementary school to high school.
Lavern graduated from Franklin High School in spring 1951. It was in 1954 that Lavern achieved his dream of owning his own gas station: Cole's Standard Station. Lavern worked day and night at his station, and it was not out of the ordinary for kids to want to go to Coley's station so they could pick out candy and pop.
Lavern never met a stranger, and if someone needed help as they were passing through town - a truck driver who blew a tire or a farmer needing to change his tractor tire - they knew they could count on Coley to help without any hesitation. Giving back to the community was very important to Lavern - he provided several high school boys an opportunity to work at his station.
Sondra was always by Lavern's side in helping with the bookkeeping at the station and eventually taking care of the three children they were blessed with. Their son David was no stranger to the station and loved spending time with Dad at the station and riding in the tire truck. After selling the station to Co-op, Lavern and Sondra bought the Dug Out Restaurant.
There are many grown children today that know Lavern not by his name or Coley but by Santa Claus. Lavern and Sondra loved playing Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus. Children's innocent belief and their sweet surprised faces were worth the 24 years of making several house calls to keep the spirit of Santa alive.
Lavern was a member of the Franklin Missionary Church where he faithfully served his Lord and Savior. Lavern was not afraid to express his faith to anyone. It was not uncommon for Lavern to ask you how your walk with Jesus was going.
Later in life, Lavern loved spending time with his five granddaughters. He liked to take the two oldest on rides to the country to see the cows. Lavern made special memories for the grandchildren by dancing silly at Christmas, buying way too many pumpkins to decorate and always having treats to share.
Lavern will always be known for attempting to pull pranks on people and telling jokes. His sense of humor and smile will be missed dearly, but we know that someday we will see him again.
Coley was preceded in death by: parents, Alvia and Verdia Cole; infant sister, Opal Cole; and cousins, Lela Lehmann and Opal Hewitt.
Interment at Greenwood Cemetery in Franklin.
Published in Kearney Hub on April 30, 2012
On June 23, 1963, he married Sondra Bose.
Survivors are: wife of almost 49 years; daughters, Lisa Worley and her special friend, Phil, of Grand Island and Lori Clark and her husband, Anthony, of Lincoln; son, David Cole of Franklin; grandchildren, Tiffany Wilson, Abby Chadwick, Madison Drame, Emily Eckley and Kinsey Clark; cousins, Kay Cole and his wife, Ruth, of Keizer, Ore., and Ellen Nutter and her husband, Larry, of Stanton; and other relatives and many friends.
In 1933, his father, a World War I veteran, became ill and was sent to the Veterans Hospital in Fort Lyons, Colo., where he remained for 37 years. Three years later, Lavern and his mother moved to his grandparents' farm southeast of Franklin, where he loved spending time with his grandparents.
Lavern and his mother moved to Franklin in fall 1938, and he started school. It was then that Lavern met his best friend - a neighbor named Kenny Morrison - who stood by his side to the end. Lavern and Kenny kept each other in and out of trouble from elementary school to high school.
Lavern graduated from Franklin High School in spring 1951. It was in 1954 that Lavern achieved his dream of owning his own gas station: Cole's Standard Station. Lavern worked day and night at his station, and it was not out of the ordinary for kids to want to go to Coley's station so they could pick out candy and pop.
Lavern never met a stranger, and if someone needed help as they were passing through town - a truck driver who blew a tire or a farmer needing to change his tractor tire - they knew they could count on Coley to help without any hesitation. Giving back to the community was very important to Lavern - he provided several high school boys an opportunity to work at his station.
Sondra was always by Lavern's side in helping with the bookkeeping at the station and eventually taking care of the three children they were blessed with. Their son David was no stranger to the station and loved spending time with Dad at the station and riding in the tire truck. After selling the station to Co-op, Lavern and Sondra bought the Dug Out Restaurant.
There are many grown children today that know Lavern not by his name or Coley but by Santa Claus. Lavern and Sondra loved playing Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus. Children's innocent belief and their sweet surprised faces were worth the 24 years of making several house calls to keep the spirit of Santa alive.
Lavern was a member of the Franklin Missionary Church where he faithfully served his Lord and Savior. Lavern was not afraid to express his faith to anyone. It was not uncommon for Lavern to ask you how your walk with Jesus was going.
Later in life, Lavern loved spending time with his five granddaughters. He liked to take the two oldest on rides to the country to see the cows. Lavern made special memories for the grandchildren by dancing silly at Christmas, buying way too many pumpkins to decorate and always having treats to share.
Lavern will always be known for attempting to pull pranks on people and telling jokes. His sense of humor and smile will be missed dearly, but we know that someday we will see him again.
Coley was preceded in death by: parents, Alvia and Verdia Cole; infant sister, Opal Cole; and cousins, Lela Lehmann and Opal Hewitt.
Interment at Greenwood Cemetery in Franklin.
Published in Kearney Hub on April 30, 2012
Lavern A. "Coley" Cole, 79, passed away Friday, April 27, 2012 at the Golden Living Center in Franklin, NE. Coley was born Nov. 14, 1932, in Smith County, Kan., to Verdia and Alvia Cole.
On June 23, 1963, he married Sondra Bose.
Survivors are: wife of almost 49 years; daughters, Lisa Worley and her special friend, Phil, of Grand Island and Lori Clark and her husband, Anthony, of Lincoln; son, David Cole of Franklin; grandchildren, Tiffany Wilson, Abby Chadwick, Madison Drame, Emily Eckley and Kinsey Clark; cousins, Kay Cole and his wife, Ruth, of Keizer, Ore., and Ellen Nutter and her husband, Larry, of Stanton; and other relatives and many friends.
In 1933, his father, a World War I veteran, became ill and was sent to the Veterans Hospital in Fort Lyons, Colo., where he remained for 37 years. Three years later, Lavern and his mother moved to his grandparents' farm southeast of Franklin, where he loved spending time with his grandparents.
Lavern and his mother moved to Franklin in fall 1938, and he started school. It was then that Lavern met his best friend - a neighbor named Kenny Morrison - who stood by his side to the end. Lavern and Kenny kept each other in and out of trouble from elementary school to high school.
Lavern graduated from Franklin High School in spring 1951. It was in 1954 that Lavern achieved his dream of owning his own gas station: Cole's Standard Station. Lavern worked day and night at his station, and it was not out of the ordinary for kids to want to go to Coley's station so they could pick out candy and pop.
Lavern never met a stranger, and if someone needed help as they were passing through town - a truck driver who blew a tire or a farmer needing to change his tractor tire - they knew they could count on Coley to help without any hesitation. Giving back to the community was very important to Lavern - he provided several high school boys an opportunity to work at his station.
Sondra was always by Lavern's side in helping with the bookkeeping at the station and eventually taking care of the three children they were blessed with. Their son David was no stranger to the station and loved spending time with Dad at the station and riding in the tire truck. After selling the station to Co-op, Lavern and Sondra bought the Dug Out Restaurant.
There are many grown children today that know Lavern not by his name or Coley but by Santa Claus. Lavern and Sondra loved playing Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus. Children's innocent belief and their sweet surprised faces were worth the 24 years of making several house calls to keep the spirit of Santa alive.
Lavern was a member of the Franklin Missionary Church where he faithfully served his Lord and Savior. Lavern was not afraid to express his faith to anyone. It was not uncommon for Lavern to ask you how your walk with Jesus was going.
Later in life, Lavern loved spending time with his five granddaughters. He liked to take the two oldest on rides to the country to see the cows. Lavern made special memories for the grandchildren by dancing silly at Christmas, buying way too many pumpkins to decorate and always having treats to share.
Lavern will always be known for attempting to pull pranks on people and telling jokes. His sense of humor and smile will be missed dearly, but we know that someday we will see him again.
Coley was preceded in death by: parents, Alvia and Verdia Cole; infant sister, Opal Cole; and cousins, Lela Lehmann and Opal Hewitt.
Interment at Greenwood Cemetery in Franklin.
Published in Kearney Hub on April 30, 2012
On June 23, 1963, he married Sondra Bose.
Survivors are: wife of almost 49 years; daughters, Lisa Worley and her special friend, Phil, of Grand Island and Lori Clark and her husband, Anthony, of Lincoln; son, David Cole of Franklin; grandchildren, Tiffany Wilson, Abby Chadwick, Madison Drame, Emily Eckley and Kinsey Clark; cousins, Kay Cole and his wife, Ruth, of Keizer, Ore., and Ellen Nutter and her husband, Larry, of Stanton; and other relatives and many friends.
In 1933, his father, a World War I veteran, became ill and was sent to the Veterans Hospital in Fort Lyons, Colo., where he remained for 37 years. Three years later, Lavern and his mother moved to his grandparents' farm southeast of Franklin, where he loved spending time with his grandparents.
Lavern and his mother moved to Franklin in fall 1938, and he started school. It was then that Lavern met his best friend - a neighbor named Kenny Morrison - who stood by his side to the end. Lavern and Kenny kept each other in and out of trouble from elementary school to high school.
Lavern graduated from Franklin High School in spring 1951. It was in 1954 that Lavern achieved his dream of owning his own gas station: Cole's Standard Station. Lavern worked day and night at his station, and it was not out of the ordinary for kids to want to go to Coley's station so they could pick out candy and pop.
Lavern never met a stranger, and if someone needed help as they were passing through town - a truck driver who blew a tire or a farmer needing to change his tractor tire - they knew they could count on Coley to help without any hesitation. Giving back to the community was very important to Lavern - he provided several high school boys an opportunity to work at his station.
Sondra was always by Lavern's side in helping with the bookkeeping at the station and eventually taking care of the three children they were blessed with. Their son David was no stranger to the station and loved spending time with Dad at the station and riding in the tire truck. After selling the station to Co-op, Lavern and Sondra bought the Dug Out Restaurant.
There are many grown children today that know Lavern not by his name or Coley but by Santa Claus. Lavern and Sondra loved playing Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus. Children's innocent belief and their sweet surprised faces were worth the 24 years of making several house calls to keep the spirit of Santa alive.
Lavern was a member of the Franklin Missionary Church where he faithfully served his Lord and Savior. Lavern was not afraid to express his faith to anyone. It was not uncommon for Lavern to ask you how your walk with Jesus was going.
Later in life, Lavern loved spending time with his five granddaughters. He liked to take the two oldest on rides to the country to see the cows. Lavern made special memories for the grandchildren by dancing silly at Christmas, buying way too many pumpkins to decorate and always having treats to share.
Lavern will always be known for attempting to pull pranks on people and telling jokes. His sense of humor and smile will be missed dearly, but we know that someday we will see him again.
Coley was preceded in death by: parents, Alvia and Verdia Cole; infant sister, Opal Cole; and cousins, Lela Lehmann and Opal Hewitt.
Interment at Greenwood Cemetery in Franklin.
Published in Kearney Hub on April 30, 2012
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