Laurie Ann Cole

Laurie Ann Cole (nee Sander) was born on June 7, 1959. She lived in many locations throughout her life, beginning with Southeastern PA, then Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, and American Samoa before returning to Pennsylvania in her mid-20s, where she met the love of her life, Dan Cole. Well matched by their mutual interest and talent in art and music, they were married in 1989 and lived happily for several years, the happiest years of her life. Unfortunately, the scars of a traumatic childhood plagued by physical and emotional abuse and neglect eventually pulled her back into the severe alcoholism and drug addiction she had been battling since her early teen years eventually ending the marriage.

She was a gifted and talented artist who found some solace in expressing the pain and torment through her art renditions, her interest in and love of music which she immersed herself in through playing her guitar and singing, and by writing. Her journals and beautiful and unique drawings serve as the legacy of her tortured life.

Despite her many attempts, she was never able to completely defeat the emotional problems and addictions that continued to plague her, so in the early hours of October 31, 2020, a relapse with heroin that had been mixed with fentanyl caused the fatal overdose that tragically ended her life at 61 years of age. Hopefully, she has finally found the peace and serenity that so often eluded her in life.

She is survived by her sister, Kathleen (Kathi) McGough (nee Sander), her brother Thomas (Tom) Sander and his wife Lila Sander, and her former husband Daniel Cole. Her sister, Nina Sander preceded her in death in 1994.