Cecil Baron Cole

A celebration-of-life event for Cecil Baron Cole, 70, of Decatur, will be 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 15, at Point Mallard Clubhouse in Decatur.

Mr. Cole died Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023, due to complications from cancer.

He was born Aug. 24, 1953, in Talladega, Alabama, to John Lavelle Cole and Virginia Robertson Cole.

He attended school in Gadsden and graduated from Gadsden High School in 1971. He attended the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. He worked for Children’s Hospital in Birmingham and later worked for the Robert Neaves Juvenile Detention Center in Huntsville. He was then hired as a court clerk for the Morgan County District Court, where he retired as a court specialist in 2015 after 30 years of service.

In retirement, Cecil started his own small art studio, Luno Art, where he created wood sculptures in the manner of Pierre Soulages and Louise Nevelson using found objects, discarded furniture and old wood.

He enjoyed reading, listening to ‘60s and ’70s music, drawing cartoons and learning about fly fishing. He was a great storyteller, had a rapier wit and a keen sense of humor. It was hard not to love him.

He believed his greatest achievement in life was being a dad, and he loved being called grandfather.

He is survived by his wife of 19 years, Jean Cole; his daughter, Hannah Manry and husband Clint of Athens; his stepdaughter, Christina Beck of Columbiana, Alabama; siblings, Rebecca Smith and husband Larry Don of Huntsville, Johnny Cole and wife Cindy of Trussville; Candi Lindsay and husband Garry Hooper of Huntsville; three grandchildren, Matthew Beck of Coxey, Alabama, and Noah and Lucy Cobb of Athens; and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents; one brother, Steven Lavelle Cole; one grandson, Eli Beck; and lifelong friends Howard Baer, Sidney Connor, Lynn Jones and Wendell Wilson; and his dogs Chance and Chico.