Mary Hamilton Cole

Mary Hamilton Cole died on Sunday, October 31, 2010 at her home in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. She was born in Clermont, Florida, later moving to Jacksonville where she attended Robert E. Lee High School. She also attended the Atlanta Division of the University of Georgia. Mrs. Cole was the great-granddaughter of George Hamilton, Sr. and his wife Mary Knight, pioneer Florida settlers celebrated for their strength, courage and kindness. George Sr. was a cattle rancher and early developer of citrus groves in what became Polk County. Mary Cole's parents were Alton Hugo Hamilton of Plant City, Florida, and Edena Gurganus of Mobile, Alabama.

Mrs. Cole worked at the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, where she met her husband, Dr. Clifford H. Cole. Later, at the Executive Office of the President in Washington, DC, she managed grants for the Office of Economic Opportunity. She moved back to Florida with Dr. Cole when he retired from the US Public Health Service. Mrs. Cole was active in volunteer civic and social institutions in the First Coast area such as the Cummer Museum of Art, the Jacksonville Symphony Guild, Ponte Vedra Womens' Club, Salvation Army Auxilliary, and the University and Sawgrass clubs.

Mary is survived by her husband, Dr. Cole of Ponte Vedra Beach, her two sons, Clifford of Fairbanks, Alaska, and Douglas of Jacksonville, Florida as well as six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Her family and friends will celebrate her life at the Beaches Chapel of the Hardage-Giddens Funeral Home, 1701 Beach Blvd., Jacksonville Beach on Wednesday, November 3, 2010 at 11 a.m, before her interment at the Jacksonville National Cemetery.

Words of comfort may be left for the family at www.hardage-giddensbeacheschapel.com