Lois Cole

Lois Elnora Taylor Cole
March 21, 1924-January 23, 2015
Lois Elnora Taylor Cole of Waco, Texas and formerly of Denton, Texas passed away at Wesley Woods Healthcare Center in Waco, Texas on Friday, January 23. A memorial service and interment in the church columbarium will be held in Denton, Texas at St. David’s of Wales Episcopal Church on March 21, 2015 at 11:00 AM.

Lois was born in Blackwell, Oklahoma to George Emery and Eunice Gibson Taylor. She moved to Denton, Texas in 1926, when her father opened the first J. C. Penney store on the downtown square. She worked in the store during her school years to watch for shoplifters and proved herself very good at detecting such activities. She loved painting and, according to her parents and brother, would often stay up most of the night painting pictures in the attic of the family home. In 1941 she graduated from Denton High School and began her studies at North Texas State Teacher’s College, now the University of North Texas, earning a Bachelor of Science in Art in 1945. She was a member of Alpha Delta Pi sorority. After graduation, she began graduate study in the field of Art at UNT and taught undergraduate art classes. During the time she attended UNT, she met American poet Carl Sandburg and had her picture taken with him by the college newspaper as he signed her copy of his The People, Yes volume of poetry.

Lois married Captain Lloyd Clayton Cole in 1945, enjoying fifty years of marriage until his passing in 1994. She always will be remembered for her warm, sweet smile and her great love for laughter. All who knew her felt happiness in her presence. She was a devoted, loving wife to her husband throughout their fifty years of marriage, a wonderful mother to her two children, and a deeply caring person to every member of her family. Lois had many friends, including quite a few from her childhood days. She could grow any kind of plant and loved building ornamental rock walls, like the ones she saw in England, around her flower beds. Dallas Cowboys games and tennis matches were her favorite sports to watch on television. She also loved to stay up late at night watching movies, especially comedies. Lois was an active participant at St. David’s church, where she taught Sunday school classes and served on numerous committees. She and her husband donated one of the stained glass windows in the primary chapel of the church.

She is survived by her daughter Ann Cole Duncan and her husband Wayne of Woodway, Texas, and her son Richard Lloyd Cole and his wife Amy of Montalba, Texas; her brother Dr. Glen L. Taylor and his wife Artie of Denton, Texas; granddaughters Deirdre Ann Harrell of Hewitt, Texas, Ashley L. Cole of Flower Mound, Texas, Mallory Brasher of Carrollton, Texas and Shelby Brasher of Lubbock and Montalba, Texas; great-granddaughters Lauren Grace Barrett, Brianna R. Kirby, and Caroline G. Kirby; and her nephew Dr. Gary Taylor and his wife Doye of Denton, Texas.

Memorial contributions in honor of Lois T. Cole may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, the National Stroke Association, the American Cancer Society, Shriner’s Hospitals for Children, Providence Hospice, the University of North Texas, or to a preferred charity.

The family thanks the caregivers and staff at Wesley Woods Healthcare Center in Waco, Texas, Patricia Stark, RN, ANP of Hillcrest Clinics, and Providence Hospice for their wonderful, attentive care of Lois Cole and their reassuring support to her family.