Gary Cole

Gary Kieth Cole, 59, of Port Orchard died March 14, 2005, of a heart attack at his home. Born in Northwood, N.D., on August 4, 1945, to Richard and Doris (Nash) Cole, he graduated from Central Kitsap High School in 1964. On Dec. 6, 1969, he married Shirley Collins in Bremerton, WA. Mr. Cole served in the U.S. Army for four years, attaining the rank of staff sergeant and earning qualification as an expert rifleman. He was awarded the Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal and the Vietnam Campaign Medal. He worked as a data communications specialist for more than 38 years at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and on the Naval Submarine Base at Bangor, retiring in 2002. For the last three years, he worked for his future son-in-law in Hope, N.D., planting and harvesting. Mr. Cole had been a member of Bremerton Eagles 192 for 38 years. He enjoyed bowling, hunting with friends, ATVing, camping with his wife and family, playing pinochle and researching family history on the computer. He will be remembered for having "lived life to the fullest." Mr. Cole was preceded in death by his granddaughter, Kayleigh Cooley, in 1993 and by his parents. Surviving are his wife; two daughters, Tonya Pettit and her husband, Rick, of Port Orchard and Kasey Cole and her fiancÚ, Paul Elston, of Hope; a brother, Roger Cole and his wife, Evelyn, of Seabeck; two sisters, LaVerne Lucas and her husband, Charlie, of Moberly, Mo., and ReneÚ Cole of Bremerton; four grandchildren, Randy Cole, Racheal Pettit, Kaylauna Cooley and Erin Pettit; and his camping and hunting friend, Rick Durbin. A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 26, 2005, at Rill Chapel's Life Tribute Center in Port Orchard. Memorial donations may be made to American Heart Association, 4414 Woodland Park Ave. N, Seattle, WA 98103 or to American Diabetes Association, 557 Roy St., Lower Level, Seattle, WA 98109.