John William Cole

John William Cole, 83, of Grace Ridge Retirement Community in Morganton, NC died Wednesday, February 10, 2016.  Born in Walsall, Staffordshire, England on June 29, 1932, he was the son of the late James William Cole and Nellie Elizabeth Franklin Cole.  In 1948, at the age of 16, he immigrated to Connecticut where he met his wife, Joan, and raised a family in Ridgefield, CT.  Mr. Cole was a Korean War veteran and worked for 50 years for Lederle Laboratories, maker of pharmaceuticals and suture products worldwide.  He was a member of St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church.

John is survived by his wife of 63 years, Joan Lenora Dioguardi Cole of the home; children, Susan Rice and her husband, Dennis, of Durham, NY, Gary Cole and his wife, Pia, of Bethel, CT, Mitchell Cole and his wife, Judy Ann, of Butler, PA, and Melissa Shaw and her husband, Gerry, of Morganton; grandchildren, Heidi Van Gieson, Danielle Cole, Bryan Simmet-Cole and his wife, Vanessa, Matthew Shaw, Adam Shaw, and Nathaniel Shaw and his wife, Kayla; great-grandchildren, Riley Simmet-Cole, Landon Simmet-Cole, and Rosemary Shaw.

In addition to his parents, John was preceded in death by his sister, June Cockayne.

Mr. Cole’s body was donated to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine.

The memorial service will be held at 12 p.m., Tuesday, February 16, 2016 at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church with Father Kenneth Whittington officiating.  Military honors will be conducted by the North Carolina National Guard and the Caldwell County Veterans Honor Guard. His remains will be interred at the Western Carolina State Veterans Cemetery in Black Mountain, NC at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Burke Hospice and Palliative Care, Inc., 1721 Enon Road, Valdese, NC 28690.

Sossoman Funeral Home and Crematory Center is assisting the family with the arrangements.