James COLE

1944 - 2021

COLE, James "Jim" of Tryon, North Carolina, died peacefully on May 11, 2021 due to a rapid deterioration in his health. He spent his final days in ICU at Pardee Hospital, where he received skillful and humane care right to the end. He is survived by Elaine, his wife of 42 years and partner in his business; his mother, Virginia; his step-mother, Josephine Cole; his children, Michael, Suzanne and Bill; and six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren; and his brother, Steven. Jim was born on Long Island on November 15, 1944. His brother Steven was born in 1948, and in 1953 their mother Virginia married Lewis M. Davis, a widowed dentist in Winchester, Indiana, and Jim grew up in that small town. After high school, he joined the US Navy and served for two years. When he left the Navy, Jim went to work on an hourly wage for a firm that swapped radios and CB radios when customers wanted a dealer to replace the one that arrived in the car. Jim was a lateral thinker, and he had the vision to see his first business opportunity: he persuaded dealers to order cars without radios, and he set up a company to install whatever the costumer wanted, cheaper than the ones that came from the manufacturers, and Jim split the savings with the dealer. Dealer Profit Systems was born, and since then DPS, based in Tampa and now run by his sons Bill and Michael, has grown to be a major supplier of all sorts of products to dealerships throughout the Southeast, though his detailing division has never been asked to supply quartered wheels like the ones he put on his old Ford. Jim enjoyed his life to the full, whether he was meeting the car dealers who became as much his friends as his customers, or tarpon fishing, watching NASCAR, travelling (especially to his beloved St. Barth's), keeping fit (he ran six miles with Elaine most days before breakfast), or feeding the birds (and too often the bears) which visited his garden. Jim valued family, friends and church above all else, and on his last day on this earth, Lynnette Sills, his Minister, said a prayer and read from the Scriptures at his bedside, witnessed by his wife, his three children, and his brother. A Celebration of Life will be held later this year in North Carolina and in Tampa. Instead of flowers, donations can be sent to the United Methodist Church, 195 New Market Road, Tryon, NC 28782. For the full obituary, please visit www.mcfarlandfuneralchapel.com An online guest register is available at www.mcfarlandfuneralchapel.com