D.C. Cole (1936-2020)

COLE, LOCKE, PARMER

Posted By: Ken Wright (email)
Date: 6/29/2020 at 12:24:58

D.C. Cole, 84, of Marion, Iowa, passed away on Friday morning, June 26, 2020 at Willow Gardens Care Center in Marion, Iowa.

Due to COVID-19 concerns a private graveside service and burial celebrating D.C.'s life will be held at East Iron Hill Cemetery, rural Maquoketa, Iowa. There is no public visitation. The Carson Celebration of Life Center in Maquoketa is caring for the family.

Donald Charles Cole was born on March 28, 1936 in Nebraska City, Nebraska to Olin and Valetta (Locke) Cole. He grew up in Nebraska and southwestern United States.
He graduated from Nebraska City High School and later received his Doctorate from the University of New Mexico in American Studies. He served his country in the United States Army, Rangers and Special Forces, from 1952 until receiving an honorable discharge and earning the rank of colonel in 1962. He married Kathleen Ann Parmer on April 3, 1971 in Maquoketa, Iowa.

D.C. taught high school in Ames, Iowa and later at Des Moines Lincoln High School. He and Kathy then moved to Albuquerque where he received his Doctorate in 1981. He worked for the College of Santa Fe from 1982 to 1987 as an teacher associate professor and coordinator of college classes for the state's prison system. From 1987 until his retirement in 2005, DC was a professor of Multi-Cultural Studies at Minnesota State University Moorhead. In 1988 he became a published author with a book titled "The Chiricahua Apaches, 1846 - 1876".

To those who knew him well, D. C. will be remembered for his quick wit, quiet observations, wonderful stories, and lively debates. To everyone else he will be remembered as a man of few words, though an excellent public speaker. He was an avid reader with a gift for learning languages, and an encyclopedic memory for history; a collector of books, firearms, knives, and Beanie Babies (thanks to his youngest daughter). He loved wildlife, target shooting, the outdoors, and especially a large and an unforgettable dog Max.

Those left to honor his memory include his wife, Kathleen Cole of Marion, IA; daughters, Melody (Tom) Giles of Boise, ID, and Katherine Cole of Minneapolis, MN;
and brothers, Robert (Jackie Gfeller) Cole of Brock, NE, and John (Janee) Cole of Auburn, NE. He was preceded in death by his parents, and a sister Judith (Eugene) Roberts.

In lieu of other expressions of sympathy, memorials may be made to the Wounded Warrior Project or to the charity of the donor's choice.

Online condolences may be left at www.CarsonAndSon.com.