Jerry Cole

Jerry Leland Cole, son of the late Floyd Leon and Edna Cleo (Thompson) Cole, was born Oct. 14, 1939, in Norwood, Mo. He died July 13, 2021, near Esbon, Kansas, at the age of 81.

Jerry grew up near Norwood, Mo., on a farm close to Fairview country school where he attended. At the age of 14, he hitchhiked out of Missouri beginning his life's journey. He was led to Nebraska where he worked as a ranch hand, seasonally returning home. Being a strong patriot, he joined the Marines shortly after his 17th birthday, where he served as an infantryman. After the Marines, he worked highway and pipeline construction until he discovered his passion in the hardwood log business. He started his own business in 1965, which became a lifelong career. Jerry lived several places along the way until he settled in Kansas with his family on a small acreage near Esbon.

Jerry was a man who took pride in where he came from. He loved his family, pets and his home. He thanked God for his life and the people in it. Although gone from this world, his story will live on through the lives he touched and the trail he blazed along the way.

Besides his parents, Jerry was preceded in death by his two brothers, Dale and Neil Cole; and two sisters, Verla Cole and Norma Tyrell.

He is survived by his wife, Pam Cole, of Esbon; his children, Sonya A. Richardson of Rolla, Mo., Crystal Doerksen and her husband, Chris, of Prescott, Ariz., Justin Cole of West Plains, Mo., Nick Cole and his wife, Ashleigh, of Esbon, and Natasha Cole of Tempe, Ariz.; siblings, Joe Cole and his wife, Kay, of Norwood, Mo., and Sally O'neill and her husband, Tim, of Council Bluffs, Iowa; and many grandchildren.