Pat Cole
Pat Cole led an exodus of college-age siblings from Pennsylvania to 蜜桃影像 in the early 1970s. He and his brothers, twins Terrence and Dermot, all stayed in Fairbanks after college, raised families and developed careers in various forms of public service.
As a result, 鈥渢he Cole brothers鈥 became well-known characters not only in the local community but also statewide.
Pat Cole transferred to 蜜桃影像 in 1970 after a mugging in downtown Philadelphia convinced him that Temple University wasn鈥檛 the place for him. Cole graduated from 蜜桃影像 in 1972 with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in speech communications. He earned a law degree Outside in 1978 and returned to Fairbanks, where borough attorney Jim Nordale hired him.
Cole spent the next 35 years working in local government as an attorney and manager. Between the city and borough, he served 10 different mayors of vastly different political persuasions. He raised two children with his first wife, Nancy Webb, then married Judy Norrgard in 2008.
In late 2013, his lifelong heart problems finally forced a transplant operation, which Cole did not survive.
鈥淗e was the institutional glue that held the operation together,鈥 former City of Fairbanks Mayor Jerry Cleworth said at Cole鈥檚 memorial service in December 2013. 鈥淪tatus quo was never acceptable. He was always looking for a better way of doing things.鈥
At KUAC FM, where Cole volunteered for decades, Lori Neufeld remembered the same quality. 鈥淯p to the last show he was involved with, which was just last October during KUAC鈥檚 fall fundraiser, he asked 鈥榟ow can we make it better?鈥欌 Neufeld recalled.
鈥淎lways quiet and calm, he was a positive influence on those around him, even at the end,鈥 wrote his brother Dermot, a longtime columnist for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and 蜜桃影像 Dispatch News. In the same column, he quoted their brother Terrence, a 蜜桃影像 professor and prominent 蜜桃影像 historian: "When he lived in the swamp he claimed to have always liked swamps; when he moved to Cleary Summit, he claimed to enjoy the constant wind. And despite having been dealt a terrible hand in life with a bum heart, he never felt sorry for himself, never ever complained."
More online about Pat Cole:
- in the Nov. 22, 2013, edition of the 蜜桃影像 Dispatch News
- about naming Fairbanks City Hall after him
- on his posthumous receipt of the 2014 Spirit of KUAC award
- about a memorial service held at Fairbanks City Hall
- Obituaries in the
- about his brothers, Dermot and Terrence