Beulah Cole

Former Alaska resident Beulah May (Butler) Cole, 85, died Jan. 23, 2007, in Redding, Calif.
A memorial service and burial were Feb. 3 in Burney, Calif.
Beulah was born Feb. 28, 1921, to Tom and Maybelle Winchester in Lakeview, Ore., the oldest of three children. The Winchester sheep ranch in Lakeview failed during the Great Depression. They moved to Susanville, Calif., to be closer to family. Beulah graduated from Lassen High School and then married and owned a gas station near Westwood, Calif. The marriage ended Aug. 29, 1947, and she married Eldon "Curly" Butler. He was an electrician and member of IBEW. In May 1950 they moved to Alaska, first living in a tent in Eagle River; and then a homesite south of Anchorage, off the old Campbell Airstrip Road. They built a log cabin and, in 195l, added to the home. They lived with no electricity or water until 1953.
Beulah worked for First National Bank of Anchorage as head cashier. They sold the log home in 1954 and bought the Big Lake Lodge. They established the Big Lake Marina. Beulah worked for the Matanuska Valley Bank in Palmer. They were active in the Palmer Elks Lodge #451
They sold Big Lake Lodge and moved to Kenai. Eldon worked on the first oil platforms. They built a duplex and remained for three years. Over the next years, they lived in Las Vegas and Bullhead City, Nev., and other places.
They moved back to Burney, Calif., in the early 1970s and bought land in Cassel, Calif. Beulah declared she was "not going to build another house to sell when they moved." They bought a mobile home that could just move with them! Eldon died on Christmas Day in 1974.
In 1977, Beulah met the brother of an old friend from Alaska and was married to Leo Cole in 1978. Leo died on Christmas in 1991.
In retirement, Beulah turned her high energy to volunteer work. She was a charter member of the Cassel Fire Dept., hospital ombudsman and a hospice worker. She golfed at the Fall River Golf Course, was an officer for Women of the Moose and belonged to the Wayside Garden Club. She was a member and participant of the VFW Auxiliary in Burney. She led a very full, active life until contracting Alzheimer's disease in 1998.
Her family wrote, "Beulah was a very compassionate lady who helped many people and left her indelible impression on each person she ever met."
Beulah is survived by her brother, Ray and wife Eleanor Winchester of Redding; nephews, Jerry Winchester of Anchorage and Tom Winchester of Redding; niece, Vivian Furr of Burney; and many grand-nephews and -nieces.