Ruth Ellen Cole

Ruth Cole was a force of nature, determined to stand up for her beliefs and raise two children as a single working mother. She made sure that her daughters did well in school and enriched their lives with skills.Ruth was the youngest of six children, born during the depression on a Michigan farm in the small town of Richmond. Her mother was Ethel Driscoll and her father was Ray Frank Stevens. She loved growing up on her Michigan farm with her sisters, Myrle, Grace, Dorothea and Joyce and her brother, Richard.As a teenager her family moved to her beloved Detroit, in which she had a wide circle of friends. She aspired to be a pediatric nurse, but married young and had her first daughter. She remarried years later and had her second daughter. She eventually married the love of her life, Thomas Cole, spending 37 years with him until his death in 2008. Ruth worked for Bell Telephone (AT&T) for over 30 years becoming a supervisor and union steward. She took classes over years until she graduated from San Jose State University with a degree in Social Work at age 55.Ruth is survived by her two daughters, Ethel Margaret Stebbing and Sian Renee Lindsay Solis, and her three grandchildren Melissa Anne Nicolls, Michael James Nicolls and Galen Daniel Solis, and her four great grandchildren Julian Nicolls, Louis Nicolls, Linnea Nicolls and Adele Renne. She leaves a legacy of strength and the importance of family connection.The memorial will be Saturday, October 8th, at 2:00 pm at 1226 Lincoln Ave., San Jose. RSVP appreciated. Donations to the Humane Society in lieu of flowers requested.