Jesse Martin Cole

  DNA's Jesse Martin Cole was my father and grandfather of Glynn K J Kaufman.  Both of us have confirmed this with DNA matches through Ancestry.  Also my cousin Donald E Cole did the "X" and "Y" DNA's which is confirmed and confirmed the complete COLE LINE on the "Y" DNA from Oliver M Cole to Richard Cole Sr. Donald E Cole was the second son of Oliver A Cole, older brother of Jesse.

  Jesse Martin “Red” & “Jhessie Cat” Cole was the second born in a family of eleven children to Oliver M. and Dayse [Vogan] Cole.  He had blue eyes and red hair and was said to look like his grandfather Jesse J Cole and stood 6’2”. JESSE "RED" COLE went to school and finished the eighth grade.  He stayed at home and worked at an early age, he would give his money to his mother to help with the expenses for food, clothing and etc. for his brothers and sisters.  He worked for a shoemaker for a short time.  He would earn extra spending money by wrestling and boxing and became a semi-professional wrestler.  Jesse changed his profession and went to work at the St Joseph Newspaper, the editor had known his grandfather Jesse J Cole, which opened the door for a job.  He became a newspaper pressman, which he began in 1919 and retired from The Denver Post in 1966.  During his years as a pressman he worked in many states, which included Missouri, most of the southern states, New York, Massachusetts, Ohio and Colorado.  He had worked at the Denver Post for 31 years.  During the depression he would sometimes worked at three and four different newspapers in a weeks time to earn money.  He helped many fellow workers during that same period to find work, which some of them would never forget.

  After he and Thelma were married in her parents home [which her parents had bought in 1923] they left for Toledo, Ohio where they lived for about four years then returned to Denver because there were no jobs in Toledo.  Upon returning they found Thelma's father very ill [he had had a stroke] and that they were going to be evicted from their home in a few days.  Jesse immediately stepped in and stopped the eviction and bought the house where I grew up and lived all my life till the day I was married. He and Thelma joined the United Presbyterian Church in Denver, they were members till their deaths.

 When World War II came along he joined the U S Marine Corps and was discharged with honors.  He had been too old for over seas duty, but with his background as a semi-pro wrestler the Marine Corps used his talents.

 Jesse loved to read [mostly Western fiction], fishing and hunting, also always enjoyed watching softball games and watching the big league sports on television.  He always read and became a well-educated man.  He and my mother liked to travel and would get in the car and make a trip somewhere different every year, even after her first stroke.

 He was a mechanic of all trades.  To this day he is still helping the neighbors fix their problems with cars, furnaces, electric wiring, building, machines and etc. and in his spare time has taken up the hobby of sewing aprons, he has made at least 800 aprons that he has given away and his aprons can be found around the world!

   COLE ELECTED CHIEF OF MARINE CORPS LEAGUE.  Jesse M Cole, was elected commandant of the Mile-Hi detachment of the Marine Corps league at the annual election 

  One of the members of Highland Park Presbyterian Church who makes a difference is Jesse Cole.  Jesse does a variety of handyman jobs for people in his neighborhood, including a number of women who live alone.  Included in the list of places where Jesse can be found doing plumbing or other repairs is Highland Park Church.  And in June, Jesse took on a big project - replacing the water heater in the Sanctuary Building.  After 30 years, the original water heater developed a major leak, and had to be replaced.  Because of newer pipes around the boiler, it was a difficult task to get to the water heater.  But Jesse figured out a way to get a wooden platform to do most of the work.  Jesse removed the old water heaters and installed a new one - all as a donation to the church.  Did I mention that Jesse is 87 years old?  Thank you for your continuing volunteer work at Highland Park Presbyterian Church.

 Jesse Martin Cole died 28 May 1996 age 94 years, 4 months and 28 days.  He died alone in the garage [his favorite workplace, he was repairing a lawn mower and had sat in his car on the passenger’s side and passed away.  We never did find out who belonged to the lawn mower.  Jesse viewing turned out to be an Irish wake and when the family returned back to Jesse’s home the neighbors had all the tiny lights in their trees and the whole street twinkled, it was a sight to behold.  Jesse funeral was a time of reflection and was filled full with all of his friends and neighbors.  He was laid to rest at Fort Logan National Cemetery, Section Q Site 6172 with his wife Thelma, located in Denver, Colorado.  He died of Acute Coronary infraction

    My Father   Dad was a loving, devoted and caring husband and father.  A robust and strong willed man with a determination to follow in his fathers footsteps and lived his life as he believed, to do unto others are they would have them do unto you, and this he practiced to his final days.  He found happiness and great pleasure in sharing himself with everyone, as his sister said, “Jesse was a One-of-a-kind”.

Jesse was born in Oregon, Missouri over 94 years ago.  He was the second of eleven children.  The family endured many hardships which has brought them very close and to this day the family remains full of love and they are all still very close, this has carried on through the following generations.

Jesse completed the 8th grade, but still he was a well educated, self-taught by reading, living and doing, experience is the best teacher.  His parents gave him love, understanding, good morals and a good sense of honor to himself, his family, country and all people that he came near.  He learned to fish and hunt at an early age and went with his father to help put food on the table.

His first job was in a shoe factory in St. Joseph, Missouri where he was able to help the family with money and shoes for his brother, William.  For extra money he became a sparing partner in boxing and wrestling, which he became a semi-pro.

He was nicknamed “Red” and love to tease and would play harmless, but fun pranks which everyone seemed to enjoy.

In his early 20’s he went to work for the St. Joseph Newspaper, a profession he continued until his retirement.  This job gave him the opportunity to travel and work throughout the southern and eastern states finally bringing him to Denver where he met and married Thelma Anderson.  This marriage lasted fifty-one years until her death in 1980.  The first years of their marriage they spent in Toledo, Ohio right at the beginning of the depression.  Jesse was fortunate to be able to always find work.  They returned to Denver in 1935 and lived the remainder of their lives.  Jesse would at times work two to three jobs at a time to be able to give my mother and I a home, food and clothes, we never had to worry he was a good provider.  When World War II came along his sense of duty again came to be when he joined the U S Marines.

After the war he and his family became a very close net family and wherever he went the family tagged along whether it was to the movies, a ballgame, church or traveling, before I had graduated from high school I had seen all of what was then the 48 states.  We would travel to see my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins and occasionally close friends.  Their home was always open to who ever would come.

In his later years he found joy in cooking and would share his craft with the neighbors.  Dad always believed if you had something you should use it and he found a new hobby using moms sewing machine and started making aprons, which found their way around the world.  Anyone that came to see him was sure to leave with an apron or two.

Dad was a person who loved to give of himself.  He was the neighborhood maintenance man that was on call day or night, I can never remember a time that he really said no to anyone when a friend or neighbor needed a helping hand, he was there whether it be a lawnmower, furnace, tree trimming, cars or you name it, he fixed it, and all he asked for in return was a simple, “thank you”.  He will surely be missed!

I could not have asked for a better loving father than the one the Lord blessed me with.  It will be hard and I probably will never be able to fill his giant shoes with so much zeal and accomplishments that he has done.

I feel that he was put on this earth for a special reason and many people will say because of his deeds the world is a better place and we have all learned a great lesson from him to be a kind and helpful to all in need.

I thank you dad for all the hardships that you have endured, the sacrifices you made and gave to me that I have been able to use throughout my life.  I know that God has a special place for you and that you are in His care.  I love you and will deeply miss you.  Go with God.    Your loving daughter