Dr. Robert Edward Cole

Robert (“Bob”) Edward Cole passed on Tuesday, May 6, 2025.

Bob was born on June 25, 1943 to the late Clyde Thomas Cole and Beatrice Hutto Cole in Quantico, Virginia.  Given Bob’s father was in the Marine Corps, growing up Bob lived in multiple states, including Virginia, South Carolina, Rhode Island, California, and North Carolina.  After his father’s retirement from the Marine Corps, their family lived in Greensboro, North Carolina.  Bob graduated from Guilford High School and then went on to earn his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from North Carolina State University.

In 1967, Bob began teaching mathematics at Davidson County Community College.  During the early 1970s, he took a one-year sabbatical to return to NCSU to begin his year of residency for his Ph.D. in Mathematics Education; he was one of the earliest graduates of the Mathematics Education doctoral program at NCSU.  After he completed his sabbatical, he returned to DCCC and would remain there for the rest of his professional career. Over the years, he became the Mathematics Department Head and then the Division Chair for Mathematics and Sciences.  Dr. Cole was known to be a gifted teacher and an outstanding administrator.  He was actively involved in the College’s SACS accreditation, calendar, and course scheduling, always making sure all requirements were met.  Additionally, he was involved in the N.C. Community College system’s move from the quarter system to the semester system and the statewide Combined Course Library, which moved all North Carolina community colleges to common numbering and course descriptions.  Although Bob was detail-oriented and worked with many administrative processes, he was known as a caring, smart, thoughtful and compassionate advisor, teacher, colleague, supervisor, and friend.  His family recalls that for many years they could go into most any store or restaurant in Lexington or Welcome and someone would say “Dr. Cole,” coming up saying that they were in his class years ago and thanked him for the impact he had made on their lives.  Bob never took credit for students’ accomplishments, but he was always proud of his students’ successes; he encouraged many students who completed their associate’s degree at DCCC to continue on to earn their bachelor’s degree. Dr. Cole retired from DCCC in 2004.

But, work was just one aspect of Bob’s life.  In 1969, Bob married Ann Thomas Cole and they would spend almost 56 years as partners in life and best friends.  They built a life together in Davidson County, and Bob lived the rest of his life there. Bob was active in a variety of aspects of First Baptist Church, Lexington.  He served on the Board of Deacons multiple terms and was the secretary for the Deacons several times.  Bob taught Sunday School in the 5-year-olds class for a number of years when his daughters were young.  As his daughters got older, he and Ann joined the Team Co-Ed Sunday School class; this class would bring some of their deepest long-term friendships.  In recent years, he was one of the group of rotating teachers for that class.  Bob served on many church committees over the years and chaired the Martha Best Children’s Center Committee multiple years.  What can not be captured by this list of work and service is the way Bob went about things; he was a person of meticulous detail, very observant of needs, and quietly generous with his time and resources.

In addition to his wife, Ann, he is survived by daughters and son-in-laws Cammey and Tom Manning of Raleigh and Katrina and Jason Romblad of Arcadia.  He is also survived by two granddaughters, Olivia and Elise Romblad, who he adored; they brought much joy to his life.  He is also survived by an uncle, Arlton Cole and wife Harriet, and an aunt, Betty Jo Cole Stanbery.

A memorial service celebrating the life of Dr. Bob Cole will be held on Sunday, June 22 at 2 p.m. at First Baptist Church, 201 West 3rd Avenue, Lexington, N.C.  The family will receive friends at the church immediately following the service.

In lieu of flowers, please direct memorials to First Baptist Church, Martha Best Children’s Center Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 436, Lexington, NC 27293; Davidson-Davie Community College, Robert E. & Ann T. Cole Scholarship, P.O. Box 1287, Lexington, NC 27293; or a charity of the donor’s choice as, over the years, Bob Cole supported many organizations.