Alvin Robert Cole

Alvin Robert Cole, 79, of Riverton, Utah, transitioned naturally, peacefully, and on his own terms to his next adventure early in the morning on October 4, 2025. He was supported by his loved ones from both sides.

Rob was born September 18, 1946, in Murray, Utah to Alvin Alexander Cole Jr. and Margaret Ann Wood. His family lived in West Jordan, and he made many life-long friends there. Rob was an athlete in high school where he played football, basketball, and threw the javelin and discus. He was proud of his Bingham High School roots and recently attended his 60th class reunion.

On November 18, 1966, Rob married Valerie Vifquain Bowen – his best friend for the next 58 years. They met at a dance and felt an immediate connection when they shook hands. It is only fitting that they were holding hands during his last moments here.

Rob was drafted into the Army during the Vietnam War while he was attending the University of Utah. He was trained as a helicopter mechanic and spent his active-duty time at Fort Eustis in Virginia, repairing the “Huey” helicopters that were sent back for repairs from Vietnam. He spent the remainder of his service obligation in the Army Reserves and was honorably discharged.

Rob supported his family while he was in college with his landscaping business. After his graduation from the University of Utah, they took a big risk by moving the family to Hawaii – where Valerie had lived as a child. This became their dream place to live; and later a favorite vacation place to return to again and again. Rob loved his Hawaiian family.

Being a boy scout and boy scout leader was a huge part of Rob’s life. He was known to his Boy Scouts as “Bob”. He was a scout leader for many decades and even received the Silver Beaver award. In his later years, he shared his skills and knowledge with his granddaughters and their Girl Scout troop.

For several decades, Rob was a pioneer in Cable television advancement. He constructed (by hand) one of the first satellite systems in Utah. He operated a cable TV system business (ISCOM).  After selling his business, he took up a career as a realtor and enjoyed helping people find their dream homes.

Rob had many hobbies and passions, including landscaping and gardening, the outdoors and camping (even re-enacting his favorite time period as a mountain man at the Fort Bridger Rendezvous), fly fishing, traveling the world, movies, music, making jewelry, and books. He had an ear for music and frequently enjoyed attending rock concerts, operas, symphonies, and grandchildren's performances. He was a loving father and grandfather who instilled in them a love for what was probably his biggest passion: reading. He always had a book, newspaper, or magazine nearby and read every night before bed. Reading helped him have a wealth of knowledge and made him the go-to person for answers to nearly any question.

Rob’s number one priority was his family and they meant everything to him. He was an amazing husband, father, and grandfather. He developed life-long friendships during his childhood in West Jordan and at Bingham High School. Many of his neighbors, boy scouts, and colleagues were considered family. Rob was welcoming to everyone and put a smile on people's faces with his sense of humor and charming personality. He brought others joy even when the spotlight could have been on him. During the Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Olympics, he participated as a torchbearer. After completing his section of the route, he took the torch all over town and let others hold it and share in that day’s special experience.

Rob is survived by his wife Valerie, son Larry (Ercilia) Cole, daughter Lori (Brian) Cole, son Brian (Sarah) Cole, and daughter Stephanie (Kody) Olsen. He is also survived by his 11 grandchildren, who he adored and who were the joy of his life: Danny, Bobby, Michael, Vladimir, Valentina, Viktor, Taya, Addison, Olivia, Mathias, and Onnie. Rob loved his grandchildren very much and enjoyed supporting them in their hobbies, sports, art, and singing performances. He celebrated their graduations and other big life events.

We would like to give thanks to the many medical professionals, family, and friends who helped him during the last few months. He quickly became a favorite to many nurses and doctors with his cheerfulness, teasing, and feisty personality.

Rob’s desire was for a private gathering with family and close friends. In lieu of flowers, please perform an act of kindness. Rob expressed a strong desire for people to put aside differences and to be kind to each other. He would appreciate a donation in his name to the charity he supported every year: The Pamela Atkinson Homeless Trust Fund.

Childhood

Rob was raised and spent much of his life in West Jordan, Utah. He raised his own family in the house he grew up in.  Robby, as he was known in his childhood, grew up mostly with children of miners and farmers. It was a very diverse and accepting neighborhood. Acceptance of people as they are was one of Rob’s core values his entire life. He recalled the examples of hard work, volunteering, and love set by his own father: “As a young boy, I remember my dad working on our yard almost constantly. I learned to enjoy yardwork by helping him. He was also actively involved in community activities. He was the first fire chief in West Jordan and did that for about 25 years. He was president of the Lions Club and a member for quite a while. The Lions Club was instrumental in building the first park and rodeo grounds. I spent many hours watching that process. When the park was done, I went with my dad and mom to many events such and rodeos and professional boxing. I was able to make a few extra bucks by selling hotdogs, popcorn and drinks. In later years, my dad became active in the LDS church.”

School & Sports

Rob went to the old West Jordan Elementary school and told us fond memories of his favorite teacher Mrs. James. He was especially proud to tell us that he was in the first seventh grade class of the newly built West Jordan Middle school (then West Jordan Junior High) in 1958 which meant he was part of the first graduating class in 1961. He was interviewed by the Salt Lake Tribune newspaper in May of 2019 while attending a farewell ceremony with his son and granddaughter. This was prior to the old school being torn down and moving to the new building. He could still sing the school song about “Dear West Jordan Junior High”.

Rob was most excited to tell us of his time at and graduation from Bingham High School in 1964 at the old school in Bingham Canyon. The very close-knit graduating class recently held their 60th reunion at Copperton Park. He helped organize reunions and ran the Facebook page for their class. Rob was so proud to tell of his family’s connections to the mines both in Bingham Canyon and elsewhere. He loved diving into Bingham Canyon history. Rob played sports for the Miners, including football (wearing Thorpe leather helmets), basketball, and threw the javelin and discus.  He tells a favorite football story: “Our last game of the regular season, we played Jordan. They had always been the dominant team and I’m not sure Bingham had ever beat them. We beat them on their home field which was pretty exciting for our little school.”

Rob graduated from the University of Utah. He was a proud Ute and instilled a very deep connection to the University of Utah in all of his children, who are all proud U of U graduates. He took his children and later his grandchildren to many basketball and football games at the U. Rob excelled at Psychology and this was his first area of focus at the U. He decided to use that knowledge and his strengths toward his degree in Marketing. He also used that passion for Psychology to be an amazing listener and friend. He always knew the right thing to say and when to say it to help you get through your toughest situations. His advice was always spot on, even when his children as teenagers didn’t want to agree with it.

Boy Scouts

Being a boy scout and boy scout leader was a huge part of Rob’s life. He was known to his Boy Scouts as “Bob”. He was a scout leader for many decades and even received the Silver Beaver award. The Silver Beaver Award is the highest recognition awarded at the local council level for distinguished service to youth over an extended period. Rob told us that one of the most important and influential people his life was his Scoutmaster, Dean Bateman. He said: “He did not tolerate bullying by older Scouts and taught us what we needed to know to pass off our Eagle Scout award. He bought a bus and painted an arrow on the side and modified the storage so we could pack the grub boxes that we made. I still have mine. He spent a lot of time with the Scouts and taught good morals and good life skills. We learned how to treat our fellow man including how to treat the women in our life. I got involved with Scouting again as an adult and whenever I had a challenging situation, I would ask myself, ‘What would Dean do in this case?’” It would make him happy if his Boy Scouts, who are all adults now, ask themselves when they have a challenging situation, “What would Bob do in this case?”

Career & Military

Rob was an entrepreneur and started his career early with his first job at age 10 of “straightening nails for my neighbor, Gust Bolaris. His son was my best friend (Johnny Bolaris.) I was paid 75 cents for a day of straightening nails so they could be re-used in making forms for cement work. They were building a duplex behind their own house.  There was an old Greek man who was helping build the duplex. I remember that he kept a tiny cigar, unlit, in his mouth all day long and didn’t really move very fast. I was about 10 years old and had a lesson in Greek frugality and the necessity of speaking up. I had to ask several times before Gust paid me. Also, reusing or recycling was something I learned the value of.”

Rob was drafted into the Army during the Vietnam War while he was in college. He was trained as a helicopter mechanic and spent his active-duty time at Fort Eustis in Virginia, repairing the “Huey” helicopters that were sent back for repairs from Vietnam. He didn’t talk much about what he saw other than that those helicopters were coated on the inside with things that were very difficult to witness. He spent the remainder of his service obligation in the Army Reserves and was honorably discharged.

Rob supported his family while he was in college with his landscaping business. After graduation he took a big risk by moving the family to Hawaii – where Valerie lived as a child. This became their dream place to live and later favorite vacation place to return to again and again. Of course, Rob developed many life-long family friendships there as a Boy Scout leader. After several successful years (even winning best salesman awards), Rob and Valerie brought the family back to the mainland to be closer to family. He was a salesman for the “Code-a-Phone” answering machine company in Colorado. His job included recording to each machine a greeting in his radio DJ-like voice. His voicemail greetings throughout his life made us smile with how formal and professional they sounded. For the next few decades, he was a pioneer in Cable television advancement. He constructed one of the first satellite dishes in the state of Utah. Rob installed many commercial satellite/cable TV systems (including at Alta Ski Resort); ran the Cable TV system at Dugway Proving Grounds; and founded a cable TV system business (ISCOM).  After selling his business, he took up a career as a realtor and enjoyed helping people find their dream homes.

Hobbies and Books

Rob had many hobbies and passions, including landscaping and gardening, the outdoors and camping (even re-enacting his favorite time period as a mountain man at the Fort Bridger Rendezvous), fly fishing, traveling the world, movies, music, making jewelry, and books. He had an ear for music and frequently enjoyed attending rock concerts, operas, symphonies, and grandchildren's performances. He was a loving father and grandfather who instilled in them a love for what was probably his biggest passion: reading. He always had a book, newspaper, or magazine nearby and read every night before bed. Reading helped him have a wealth of knowledge and made him the go-to person for answers to nearly any question. Some of his favorite books he would repeatedly read, including to his children and grandchildren, were: Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Dune, works by Ernest Hemmingway (especially Big Two-Hearted River), detective novels such as Sherlock Holmes and The Maltese Falcon, works by Charlie Russell, and The Wizard of Oz. The Wizard of Oz was his favorite children’s story and he read the story years before seeing the movie. He read many of L. Frank Baum’s books and Oz-themed stories. He told us that they appealed to his visual imagination because he “saw” the stories as he read them. He enjoyed a visit to the Kansas-based (Wamego, KS) Wizard of Oz Museum and loved his Oz-themed 75th birthday party with his family. He said about his favorite: “One of my favorite authors was western painter and short story author Charlie Russell. He wrote a book called ‘Trails Plowed Under’, which if I were forced to choose, would be my all-time favorite.  I enjoy books about Indians/mountain men and their skills.”

One of his favorite songs from the Wizard of Oz

Somewhere over the rainbow,

Way up high

There's a land that I heard of

Once in a lullaby

Somewhere over the rainbow

Skies are blue

And the dreams that you dare to dream

Really do come true

Someday I'll wish upon a star

And wake up where the clouds are far behind me

Where troubles melt like lemon drops

Away above the chimney tops

That's where you'll find me

Somewhere over the rainbow

Bluebirds fly

Birds fly over the rainbow

Why, then, oh, why can't I?

If happy little bluebirds fly

Beyond the rainbow

Why, oh, why can't I?