Daniel W. Cole

He was born on June 7, 1923 near Orland, California to Florence Emily (Shapland) and Guy H. Cole, and then settled in Portland, Oregon, where he attended Woodmere Elementary School and Benson Polytechnic High School. He graduated from Benson in sheet metal in 1941.

Dan worked for Acme and Grand Metal Products in Portland and met his future wife, Winnifred (Winnie) Helen Baker, at a bus stop on SE 82nd and Foster.

In June 1943, Dan joined the US Navy Construction Battalion (Seabees), training in Virginia and Rhode Island as a sheetmetalsman before marrying Winnie at Camp Parks in Livermore, California on December 23, 1943. In April 1944, he shipped out to the Pacific Theater, where he saw duty on Midway Island, on Oahu, and in the Philippines, before returning to the US in August 1945. Discharged in December 1945, Dan returned to the Portland metro area to resume his career in sheet metal.

Daughter Susan Gail (Nicholson) was born in 1947 and son David William in 1949. In 1951, Dan took a teaching position in sheet metal at Benson Poly in Portland, where he remained until 1965. In 1971 Dan started his own custom stainless sheet metal business from which he retired in 1985. Dan and Winnie were avid square dancers (The Record Breakers) and bowlers, and enjoyed playing cards with friends and family. Dan also enjoyed making furniture in his basement shop, providing most family members with pieces of his work as his legacy. They lived in the Woodstock area of Southeast Portland for 60-plus years before moving to retirement homes in Vancouver and then Hood River. Dan was active with the 100th Seabee reunions and with the VFW.

Dan is survived by his wife of 73 years, Winnie, son David and wife Carolyn of Vancouver, daughter Sue and husband Craig of Mount Hood, four grandchildren, and seven great grandchildren.