Rhett Matthew Cole

It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Rhett Cole on March 23, 2024. He is survived by his beloved wife Wendy and son Zachary. Predeceased by his parent’s Thomas and Annie as well as numerous aunts and uncles.

Rhett was born in Chilliwack, BC. During his early years his father ran a motorcycle shop, and this began his love of motorcycles and his hobby for life (he was known for his love of collecting a Spanish bike called Bultaco). In 1964 the family moved to Prince Rupert, BC and resided there until 1968 before moving to Prince George where it became his forever home.

He was an only child, but he made up for that by having a huge friend base and many of those friends became more like family to him. He was always checking in with his friends to ensure that he never lost their connection. He valued his friendships more than you can imagine.

Rhett attended Lakewood Junior High School and then moved over to Prince George Senior Secondary School for Grade 11 & 12. Summer of 1973, he worked as a summer student with Department of Highways as a slash burner. April 23,1974, he worked as a “floater” with them until around 1980 when he became a Tech and began his life’s work around Benkleman Beaming which became his main expertise during his 28 years working with what was now called Ministry of Transportation. He continued working in that field even after he left the ministry and became a private contractor as of 2002 until he retired in June of 2021.

He retired hoping to spend it doing fun things like restoring more of his Bultaco bike collection, travelling and spending time with family and friends. He did not get to do some of these once he was diagnosed in December 2022 with a rare brain disease called Progressive Supranuclear Palsy. It was very aggressive, and he started to decline very rapidly from it. He kept his upbeat attitude after he was diagnosed, saying to many “that you didn’t have to look too far to see that someone had it worse than you”. That was just the kind of guy he was.

A Celebration of life will be held April 29, 2024, at 10 am. at Assman’s Funeral Chapel, 1908 Queensway Street, Prince George, BC.