Cecilia “Cel” Agnes Cole, 104, of Poets Walk in Fredericksburg, Va., passed away on Monday, Sept. 18, 2023. She was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on Nov. 24, 1918, to the late William Farasey Cooper and Margaret Agnes (Sammon) Cooper. They had eight kids: Anne Mae, William, Margaret, Josephine, Cecilia, Coletta, George, and James. Cel grew up in Bebeetown, Ohio, and later in Columbia Station, Ohio, after the family lost their home in Bebeetown during the depression. She rode to grade school in a donkey cart and the driver would not stop and you had to run and jump on the back. The kids earned money by picking beans, 20 cents for half a bushel, strawberries 2 cents a quart, and apples a dollar a day climbing a ladder.
Cel met the love of her life, Al Cole, in the 5th grade, and they married in 1937 after graduating from Strongsville High School. They were married almost 77 years and had four children, 13 grandchildren, and numerous great-grandchildren. They moved from Berea, Ohio, to Morgantown, in 1966. Cel worked for her brother, Bill Cooper, at Cooper Insurance in Berea, Ohio and for West Virginia University in Morgantown, at the university library as secretary to the library director. She was an avid fan of WVU football, basketball, the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the Pittsburgh Steelers. She was an excellent bridge player. They had a cottage at Alpine Lake in Terra Alta, where she played bridge and golf and spent time with friends and family.
Cel loved to bake, and her Texas Sheet Cake and chocolate caramel cookies were legendary in the family. She had a wry sense of humor and was kind and considerate of everyone. She loved music. She played the piano her whole life and sang in the church choir in Star City. She loved her family and had no problem traveling to wherever in the country they ended up — Chicago, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., Virginia, or Wisconsin. She was there for weddings, baptisms, family reunions or if you just needed someone to talk to and get advice. She was a loving mother, adored grandparent, great-grandparent, and a kind, considerate, and wonderful wife.
She is survived by her sons, Albert W. Cole (Cathy Emberson) and Charles Frank Cole; daughter, Joy Piper; grandchildren, Debby Weidner, Mike Piper, Holly Piper, Shelley Marchal, Jenny Zemke, Jon Zemke, Charles Cole, Bryan Cole, Cecilia Jean Cole, Dylan Boland, Jill Bryant and Emma Hurley; great-grandchildren DJ, Teige, Christina, Michelle, Alyssa, Carley, Sidney, Jonathan, Lexy, Anna, Gianluca, Nicolo, Charlie, and Xander; and many nieces and nephews.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her brothers and sisters; her daughter, Linda Zemke; and her granddaughter, Amanda Emberson.
A service will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 16, at St. Mary Catholic Church in Star City. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service at the church. Interment will follow at Beverly Hills Memorial Garden Chapel of Tranquility in Westover. A celebration of life will be held for friends and family in Mineral, Va., at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Cel’s memory to The American Cancer Society, PO Box 6704, Hagerstown, Maryland 21741 or through their website Cancer.org or by calling 800.227.2345.
Our profound thanks to the staff at Chancellors Village and Poet’s Walk Memory Care facilities in Fredericksburg, Va., for the care and comfort they gave to Cel in the last years of her life, and to Linda and Larry Zemke who were there for her through thick and thin.
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