Stanley Clark Cole

1945 - 2018

Stanley Clark Cole October 12, 1945 - July 26, 2018 ENCINITAS Our beloved husband, father, grandfather, and friend, Stan C Cole, passed away at home in Encinitas on July 26 after a two-year battle with cholangiocarcinoma. Stan was born in Dover, Delaware while his father was assigned to the Army Air Corps. His parents, Eugene and Erma (nee Kammann) Cole, traveled to Wisconsin to visit their relatives after Stan's birth, and soon they moved to California where they settled in Whittier in 1948.Stan became involved in age-group swimming at an early age. He started to swim competitively at age 8, and by age 12 he was teaching swimming and playing water polo. According to one of his childhood friends, the reason that Stan became so successful was that he made up his mind early, he knew what he wanted, and he had the determination to fulfill that desire. He was totally focused on his goals and he did not let distractions get in his way. As Freshman, the C team was undefeated and won the CIF championship. Stan received the highest honor for a senior athlete at Whittier High School. He was chosen as the Best Athlete of the Year, the first time that a person other than a football player had received the award.After graduation he went to UCLA on an athletic scholarship in both Water Polo and Swimming. In 1963 he led the Bruin freshman in scoring with 53 goals in 10 games. In 1964 he was chosen as a member of the U.S. Olympic team heading to Tokyo, Japan. He celebrated his 19th birthday there and received a card from the mayor of Tokyo. He continued to play exceptionally well throughout the years and was selected to the All-AAWU and All-American teams each season. Stan complemented his water polo skills by competing on the UCLA varsity swimming team as well. He became an outstanding butterfly sprinter. At the end of his UCLA swimming career, Stan would boast an NCAA record in swimming and All- American honors for swimming for all four years as well as water polo. He won the 1965 PAC-10 100-yard butterfly championship, and he won eight All-American awards during AAU competition. In 1967 he was named AAU American Water Polo Player of the Year. He won a gold medal at the 1967 Pan American Games and again represented the U.S. at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico. Team USA placed fifth.Due to his missing one semester of college to compete in the Tokyo Olympics, he joined ROTC and upon graduation from UCLA he was commissioned an officer in the U.S. Navy. Following the 1968 Olympics he joined his ship, the Terrell County LST 1157 which was located off the tip of Saigon. Aboard ship he was a Gunnery Officer, Deck Officer, and the Nuclear Weapons Officer and the ship spent time in Vietnam, Subic Bay, Philippines, Hong Kong, and Yokosuka, Japan. After the tour of duty on the Terrell County he transferred to the Iwo Jima LPH out of San Diego, CA. The ship made stops in Hawaii, Singapore and Okinawa and he was on board the Iwo Jima on April 17, 1970 when they picked up the Apollo 13 astronauts and capsule. He left the Navy as a Lieutenant to train for the 1972 Olympics.Stan was the only member of the squad that had also played on the 1964 and 1968 teams. He scored six of his career 11 Olympic goals at the 1972 games in Munich, West Germany, leading the Americans to the Bronze medal breaking a 40-year medal drought for the United States. He was elected to the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame in 1984 and to the International Water Polo Hall of Fame in 1986, and he has the distinction of becoming the first-ever water polo player inducted into the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame in 1990. He was also one of six Bruins and 16 players named to the Pac-12 All-Century Water Polo Team. Stan was also elected into Whittier High School Hall of Fame in 2015.Stan worked in the Construction industry for 45 years. He began working in Los Angeles for his former father-in-law, Webb Wiley, after leaving the Navy. He worked for Ernest W. Hahn in regional mall development as a Project Manager eventually moving from Manhattan Beach to Encinitas with the company in 1982. He then worked as Vice President of Construction for Carver Development in Newport Beach, before forming Cole Development to build custom homes throughout San Diego County.Stan was an amazing participant with his three children whether playing baseball, helping build horse corals, taking them to lessons including dance, piano, horseback riding, gymnastics, tennis; building jumps for the 4-wheelers and dirt bikes in the yard; teaching them to water ski and snow ski; and doing anything and everything to help raise their 4-H animals and transport and show them at the fair. He was an awesome cook, famous for Caesar salad and Flaming Shrimp pasta. He was a passionate golfer, especially after the kids had left for college. He loved boats and anything to do with the water, and the family shared a houseboat with other families on Lake Powell which we enjoyed for more than a decade.Stan is survived by his wife of 36 years, Mary A. Walsh-Cole; a daughter, Alicia Cole (Josh Horst) of Seattle, WA; a daughter, Kelsey Raider (Scott) of Encinitas, CA; a son, Kammann Cole of Encinitas, CA; three grandchildren, Freya and Amalia Horst, and Gage Raider, and his former wife, Annette Wiley of Corona Del Mar. He was preceded in death by his parents, Eugene and Erma Cole, and his brother, David Cole.A Celebration of his Life will be held on Sunday, August 26, 2018 at 1:00pm at Christ Presbyterian Church of La Costa, 7807 Centella Street, Carlsbad, CA 92009. A reception will follow at the Pavilion Room, Lakehouse Hotel and Resort, 1025 La Bonita Dr., Lake San Marcos, CA 92078.Donations in his memory may be made to Bruin Water Polo. Attention: Adam Wright MWP. JD Morgan Center, 325 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095.