Charlene Cole

Charlene Cole, 89, of Elgin, passed away Monday evening, June 19, 2023.  Charlene was born in Kansas City, Missouri, to Winnie Mae Porter Speed and Charles C. Speed.

Char's dad, Charles Speed, left Muldoon, Texas when he was 14 years old. His first job was driving a laundry truck. Only problem, he didn't know how to drive. The truck was parked in the alley, and he got in and played with the knobs and gears until he got it going down the road.

A few years down the road he met a lady, Mae Porter, fell in love and got married. Two daughters were born: Charlene and her younger sister Darlene (Dolly).

Together the Speeds ended up owning three laundries at different times. When Charles wanted to go on vacation he'd sell the laundry, go on a trip, and buy another when he returned. Always in their life growing up were their grandparents, the Porters. Charles was never a very good driver.

On a trip back to Texas when the girls were teenagers, they were headed to see Charles' boyhood friend Joe Cole. Not sure how to get there, and it being night, Charles stopped someone to ask for directions. It was Joe's son Zane. Char fell in love with his voice before she ever saw him.

They had a long-distance relationship for a while. Char graduated high school in Kansas City and Zane had been drafted and sent to Miami, Florida. As Char said, a city full of gorgeous women and he called me to come down and get married.

Zane was a muscled-up Marine over six foot tall. He could reach his hands around Char's waist. Shortly after they married, they had their first fight. He said he found out how the South lost the war.

After Zane's tour was up and their first son, Terry, was born, they headed for Smithville, Texas. It was a total culture shock for Char, nothing like Kansas City. It was a very small, rural town. Zane and Joe Cole were cowboys, but they settled in, and three more sons were born: Lane, Kevin and Kyle. Theirs was a marriage that lasted over sixty years.

A family friend told of seeing Zane riding his horse down the road with a bouquet of wildflowers heading for home, and Char.

After retirement, she and Zane took trips to different parts of the U.S. and Canada. When Char and sister Dolly got together there was no telling where they would end up. After a tour of Euroupe they got back to New York and scraped up enough change between them to buy one cup of coffee. Luckily, they had their tickets home paid for.

Heading on a day trip to San Antonio for shopping, they called Zane from Dilley and said they were going on to Nuevo Laredo and would be back the next day. Zane wasn't too happy. He had been left with the four boys and their five cousins, one in diapers.

Char had a sly sense of humor. A trait she seems to have passed on to her sons. She loved dogs and sometimes cats. She was a voracious reader and loved crossword puzzles and soduku.

Excellent didn't describe her cooking. She learned out of necessity feeding five growing boys, that is if you count Zane. There seemed to be a table full, friends, family, extended family. She had stacks of cookbooks and watched cooking shows, adding her own touch, and improving the recipes. She would teach kids to cook, sitting them on the kitchen counter when they were little. She started three generations of kids cooking this way.

Most of all she loved her family and was a fantastic mom. She was a smart, kind, gracious, loving, classy, sweet lady. She touched all those who knew her. She will be missed.

She was preceded in death by both her parents, Charles, and Winnie Mae Speed; her husband, Zane Cole; her sister, Darlene Jenkins; and her daughter- in-law Merna Cole.

Charlene is survived by four sons, Terry Cole and friend Alexis Calcote, Lane Cole and wife Rhonda, Kevin Cole and wife Deborah, and Kyle Cole and wife Debra; eight grandchildren, Reagan Cole Ward and husband Lee, Lane Cole II (Deuce) and friend Janis, Caitlin Baker and husband JD, Russell Cole and wife Hope, Garrett Cole, Courtney Carlson, Kristin Schroeder and husband Wesley, Krystal Murphy and husband Mitchell; eleven great-grandchildren, Justin Ward and friend Kayla McMahon, Roman Cole and fiancé Keely Smith, Kaedyn Ward, Colton Ward, Rylee Ward, Barret Cole, William Cole, Wyatt Schroeder, Tucker Schroeder, Rhett Schroeder, and Cole Baker; Cherished nieces and nephews, Greg Jenkins, Mike Jenkins, Jeff Jenkins, Dana Parsons, and Jennifer Humphreys.

Family and friends will gather for a visitation at Elgin Funeral Home on Friday, June 23rd from 3:00 PM until 4:00 PM.  A Celebration of Charlene's life will follow at 4:00 PM with Brother Joshua Hausladen presiding.  Inurnment will be private.