Eletha Cole

Eletha Fern (Davidson) Cole was born in 1941 in Thomas, Oklahoma to Truman and Fern (Showalter) Davidson. She passed away quietly and comfortably in October after a brief hospitalization.

Her family moved to California when she was just an infant and settled in the Modesto/Ceres area. She attended Ceres High School and a couple years later met Dallas at a picnic, where she (somewhat immodestly, some might say) asked him for a ride in his new MGA sports car. They married soon after and had four sons; Auston, Barry, Cy and Devin. She loved being a mother although the early days were difficult. Dallas was working full time and attending night school in Stockton while she was raising three little ones. One story she loved to re-tell is that Devin's due date was in the same time period as the bar exam Dallas was preparing to take. And, as it happened, Devin was born on the same day Dallas was in San Francisco taking the bar exam. So when the nurses asked where her husband was and when is he coming in to see her and the baby, her answer was "he won't be coming, he's at the bar".

Once her boys were all in school, she began working at Denair Elementary as a secretary where she remained for three decades becoming a much beloved and respected member of the school and community. Although, more than one of her sons found her presence in the school system to be somewhat irksome, she loved being involved in the school activities. One year for the school carnival, she set up a booth as a fortune teller. She was able to disguise herself so well, none of the kids recognized her and with her involvement in the school she knew many details of the kids lives so that they did truly feel they had seen a fortune teller. Besides her duties with the school district, she and Dallas spent many, many hours attending Denair sporting events over the years, especially on weekends in the stands during wrestling tournaments, with their bags of mini chocolate chips, raisins and Spanish peanuts.

After her kids were grown and gone, she refined the artistic inclination she always had and truly found her passion in watercolor painting. Her earliest efforts resulted in a number awards at the county fair and other competitions. Many, many of her friends and family have at least one of her paintings somewhere in their homes. She often found sources for her paintings from the many trips she shared with Dallas as they traveled the country to all fifty states as well as Mexico and Costa Rica. Another special inspiration for her paintings were her grandchildren and the "kids trip" she and Dallas took with them every summer.

As their travelling days wound down due to Dallas' slide into dementia, she devoted herself to his care and as well as maintaining the several plants she had in and out of the house. She also kept her hummingbird feeders well supplied, as any visitor to their house would know. Although the last few years were challenging, she kept a cheerful and upbeat attitude, constantly trying to keep Dallas occupied and engaged with her in activities, such as looking through all the albums of family reunions and travels they had. One time while looking at the photos but not remembering, he remarked, "it looks like we had a fun life".

Anybody who knew Eletha for the smallest amount of time, knew she had a generous, kind and open heart. Not only could she talk to anybody, she could also talk to anybody about themselves and find out something interesting. She touched many, many people throughout her life and is very beloved by those who knew her.

Dallas and Eletha were married for 64 years. Dallas preceded her in death by two months, passing away in July this year, just days before her 84th birthday. She was also predeceased by her parents and brothers Ray and Ken. She is survived by her four sons, Auston (Lori) Cole, Barry (Chrissy) Cole, Cy (Meg) Cole and Devin Cole, 12 grandchildren, 10 great grandchildren and her sister Darlene Williamson.

A Celebration of Life will be held on November 15th at 12:00 at Community Bible Church in Waterford (cbcwaterford.org). It will be livestreamed on their Facebook page.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Alzheimer's/Dementia Support Group, 700 McHenry Ave., Suite B, Modesto, CA 95350.