James Cole

James Lawrence Cole

June 11, 1927 - November 12, 2013

Cary

James Lawrence Cole, born June 11, 1927, died peacefully in his sleep on November 12, 2013.

Jim was born in Oberlin, Ohio. He graduated from Western Reserve Academy in 1944 and trained as a radar repair technician in the US Navy in 1945.

He graduated from Oberlin College with an AB in Psychology in 1948 and married Barbara Beaumont the summer following their graduation.

He received his MA in Psychology from Princeton University. He completed his PhD in Psychology at Duke University in 1963. His first teaching position was at Harvard University where he was the assistant of B. F. Skinner. After two years teaching at George Washington University, he accepted a position at NC State University as an associate professor of psychology with research study in the fields of behavior and learning. He remained there until his retirement

While at NCSU he was involved in a wide range of research including pilot error for the US Navy and creating computer-based curriculums for the blind.

Jim was an active member of the Virginia Carolinas Morgan Horse Club and supported his wife's love of Morgan Horses. After her death, he continued October Farm Horse Books for many years.

As a lover of music, he sang with the Raleigh Oratorio Society, the Cary Concert Singers, and was a life-long lover of symphony orchestras maintaining front-row season tickets for the North Carolina Symphony for much of his life.

He is survived by his sons Thomas B Cole and wife Mary of Cary, NC; Matthew B Cole and his husband Charlie Dupree of Bloomington, Indiana, and granddaughters Chelsea and Sarah Cole of Cary, NC.

A funeral service will be held at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Cary on Thursday, November 21at 3pm. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be sent to the NC Symphony in his name.