John V. Cole

John V. Cole passed away peacefully at his home on August 1, 2020, at the age of 84. He is survived by his loving and devoted wife Martha Moden Cole, his sister Christine Cole Geary (John), his children Molly Cavender (Mark), Jennifer Cacciatore (Emanuele), John W. Cole II (Malessa), Timothy Cole (Brenda), Sybil Charles (Ian), Taylor Barber (Gleason), his grandchildren Christine Hernandez (Zach), James Cavender, Emily Cavender, Anabelle Cacciatore, Carmela (Elie) Cacciatore, John W. Cole III, Hannah Cole, Timothy Cole, Hisae Cole, Niesha Fitzsimmons (Scott), Ian Prier, Tynika Wright (Tyree), Garrick Charles, Jordan Cole (Grace), Solomon Barber, George Barber III, Wyatt Barber, great grandchildren Leia Wright, Tyree (Eli) Wright, Seth Fitzsimmons and many nieces, nephews and siblings in law. John was born in Buffalo, NY to John W. and Gladys Cole on December 31, 1935. He grew up in South Buffalo and graduated Bishop Timon High School in 1954, where he played football. He married Martha Moden on March 3, 1962, in East Aurora NY, where they lived when all six children were born. John worked for Cowper and was onsite when the Marine Midland Building in Buffalo was built. He was also onsite for the expansion of the Fisher-Price campus in East Aurora. The Coles attended church at St. Mathias, Episcopal on Main Street. John had a humor that was unmatched. Quick with the quips, he made everyone around him smile. You had to watch out on April Fools day, it was his favorite holiday! He was very likable, and many people who knew him would go out of their way to support him and his family. One time was when the folks he met while working on the F-P job surprised him by lining up hundreds of F-P people around the gutter of his house. His kids were thrilled and literally had buckets of F-P people to play with afterwards. In April 1977, the family moved to Falls Church, VA when Cowper entered into a joint venture in the area. There, John got involved in youth sports. For many years, he coached football with the Northern Virginia Football Club, Babe Ruth baseball, and Arlington WAGS Soccer. In addition to loving sports, John was very involved in all of his children’s and grandchildren’s activities, attending to their games, concerts, recitals, competitions, etc. He was extremely proud to be their father/grandfather and wore that on his sleeve. He went to Falls Church High School wrestling matches to watch Tim, football games to watch Jennifer perform in the marching band at half time, and to numerous band competitions. He would happily drive Molly and John to and from Buffalo, where they attended the Buffalo Seminary and the Gow School, respectively. John’s youngest children, Sybil and Taylor, attended McLean High School and were competitive athletes there. As was his way, he was involved with their teams and was the President of the Booster club for a time. He really loved the softball team, as many of them when they were on the McLean Little League Team he followed that won the World Series in 2005. He was still going to HS softball practices and games this past school year, even pitching to the girls! When he could, he would attend their college games, not just softball but any other sport they played in the off-season too. He has been going to McLean sporting events for 30 plus years! In 2011, his grandson Jordan (Sybil) started at McLean HS playing football, basketball, and lacrosse. John would go from the softball game then to the lacrosse game when possible. Even after Jordan graduated from McLean, John continued to support the athletes there, attending both home and away games as he always had. He even went to Richmond, VA when the softball team played there at regionals. That is just who he was, a huge advocate for youth sports. He loved and respected all the players, girls and boys, and enjoyed being around the other parents. He continued to cheer on Jordan when he played lacrosse at West Point, again integrating himself into that community. John touched so many hearts; he will be missed.