Riley C. Cole, 90, passed away Friday, Jan. 3, 2020, at Greenwood Leflore Hospital. Funeral services will be Wednesday at the Episcopal Church of the Nativity with interment in McNutt Cemetery. The Rev. Peter Gray will officiate. Visitation will be from 10 to 11 a.m. Wednesday prior to the service.
Mabel Riley Cole was born Jan. 8, 1929, in Greenwood to Mabel Jones and James Pierce Cole. Her maternal great-grandfather, Benjamin Lafayette Jones, was a pioneer settler of Leflore County. She graduated from Greenwood High School and attended Randolph-Macon Woman’s College, where she was a member of the Kappa Delta Sorority, and the University of Mississippi. She received her Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Education and Master of Education degree from Delta State University, and her post-graduate work was at the University of Mississippi. She taught sixth- through eighth-grade math at W.C. Williams and then taught in the EGGSTRA program of the Greenwood Public Schools. Following her retirement from the Greenwood Public Schools, Mrs. Cole remained actively involved in the education of the children of Greenwood. She was a member of the Greenwood Mentoring Group, an after-school tutoring program. She was also an active member of Mission Mississippi. In 2019, Mrs. Cole was presented with a key to the city in recognition of her many years of service to her community and her devotion to and interest in the education of Greenwood’s children.
Mrs. Cole was a charter member of the Town and Country Garden Club and the Mississippi Council of Teachers of Mathematics. She was a member of Greenwood Junior Auxiliary, Greenwood Little Theatre, the Museum of the Mississippi Delta and the Early Families Club. Riley was also a member and past president of the Greenwood Garden Club and was a former nationally accredited flower show judge. She was a member of the Church of the Nativity, where she served on the Altar Guild. She continued to play competitive bridge until the last few months, thus obtaining the “Sapphire Status.”
Mrs. Cole was preceded in death by her parents; her sister, Elizabeth Ellen “Betsy” Cole; and her brother, James Pierce “Jimmie” Cole Jr.
She is survived by her son, Jeffrey Lee Cole III of Atlanta; three daughters, Lynn Cole Berman of Greenwood, Elisabeth “Libba” Cole Shrader of Columbia, South Carolina, and Clay Cole Laposata (Sam) of Portsmouth, Virginia; five grandchildren, Taylor Cole Berman, Collin Michael Cole, Elizabeth “Betsy” Cole Shrader Watts (Matt), William Matthew Shrader and Satchel Riley Laposata; a great-grandchild, Lyon Raymond Watts; a niece, Katherine Ann Cole; nephews James P. Cole III and Robert Sewell Cole; and several great-nieces and nephews.
Memorials may be made to the Altar Guild of the Church of the Nativity, 400 Howard St., Greenwood, MS 38930; The Greenwood Mentoring Group, 200 Ave. G, Greenwood, MS 38930; or to the charity of donor’s choice.
Pallbearers will be Robert Cole, Jim Cole, Wade Evans, Jim Thomas, Sanford Thomas and Duncan Fraiser. Honorary pallbearers will be Bubba Frasier and James Howard Evans.
The family would like to offer a special work of thanks to Riley’s caregivers, Atlean Brewer and Earline McGee, for their compassion and care.
An online guestbook may be signed at www.greenwooddeltafh.com. Greenwood Delta Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.