Velma Jean Cole

At a very young age, Velma Jean Cole gave her life to Christ and has been spreading his love ever since, to whomever she met. She always looked with great anticipation on the day she would see Jesus face-to-face. On February 26, 2025, Velma went to be with the Lord. She was 88 years old.

Velma was born on November 3, 1936, in Tacoma, Washington to Elmer and Doris Liedes. She is survived by her husband (Lt. Col., Keith H. Cole), son (Keith H. Cole II), her sister (Kate Kling), three brothers (Kenny Liedes, Donald Craft, and Leslie Craft), and four grandchildren (John C. Humen, Jessica Humen, Mary Caroline Cole, and Claire Cole). She is predeceased by her daughter (Deborah A. Cole), her twin sister (Vivian Clark), and sister (Cheryl Craft Hanson).

Velma and her identical twin sister, Vivian, were two peas in a pod and shared a lifetime of memories together; including performing the musical number Sisters from White Christmas for the USO. This helped developed her passion for the theatre and Broadway musicals. After graduating from The University of Puget Sound in 1960, Velma shared this passion with others by teaching high school theatre and English.

Through a mutual friend, she met the love of her life, Keith Cole, a young navigator for the Air Force. They were married on August 19, 1961, at Pease Air Force Base in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Velma was wise, gracious and kind, showing us what it means to love thy neighbor and serve others. She wept with the grieving and rejoiced with the joyful. She was generous and selfless with all she had. She would tirelessly support those in her life and would continue to minister and encourage them through endless greeting cards, punctuated with long messages written in virtually every blank space on the card. The messages were encouraging and uplifting, while always letting them know how much Jesus loved them.

Her greatest pride and joy were her grandchildren. She showered them with love and encouragement and, of course, gave them a card for every occasion. She also took pride in her Finnish heritage and passed along some of her favorite memories of her grandmother Sofia to them, including making her Christmas cardamom bread.

Velma was very active in church and never missed a Sunday service. Keeping with her spirit, she taught Sunday School and studied and taught the Good Shepherd curriculum.

Velma was resourceful and attacked things with grit, truly running the race marked out for her with perseverance, while calling on Christ to give her strength. While we miss her greatly, we are joyful that she is now with Jesus and her daughter Deborah.

A visitation for Velma will be held Thursday, March 13, 2025 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM at Sunset Northwest Funeral Home, 6321 Bandera Road, San Antonio, TX 78238.

Velma will be buried at a graveside service at the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio on Friday, March 14th at 9:30 a.m. Visitation will be held on Thursday evening from 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm at the Sunset Northwest Funeral home in San Antonio.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in her name to the Alzheimer’s Association (https://www.alz.org/)