Wanda Lou (Ramsey) Cole

Wanda Lou (Ramsey) Cole, 86, was born August 13, 1934 in Stilwell, Oklahoma, the second of five daughters to Harvey and Verna Ramsey. Wanda graduated from Stilwell High School in 1952 and moved to Wichita, Kansas where she worked for Boeing Aircraft. On December 30, 1953, Wanda married Wylie P. Cole in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. They lived on the Army base at Ft. Sill, near Lawton, Oklahoma where they eventually welcomed their first child, John Michael. Shortly after, they moved to Ft. Knox, Kentucky where Wylie completed his military service. In 1956, the couple moved to Sand Springs, Oklahoma where Wanda worked at Admiral State Bank in Tulsa. Upon the arrival of their second child, Kimberly Jo, Wanda left employment at Admiral Bank to become a full time Mom and homemaker. In 1964, Wanda and Wylie welcomed their youngest daughter, Melissa Ann. In 1980, Wanda and Wylie moved to Sallisaw, Oklahoma, not far from Stilwell where they both grew up. They bought land and built a house in which they lived the remainder of their lives.

Wanda devoted her life to her family and to God. She attended Eastside Holiness Church in Muldrow, Oklahoma and often arrived an hour before service to sit in her “spot” and waited patiently for the service to begin. She was an excellent seamstress and sewed for her husband and children rendering beautiful clothing which surpassed almost anything one could buy commercially. Wanda loved to garden and until later in life, canned vegetables, made jams and various other products from her garden. She also loved to work in the yard. You could often find her on the tractor brush hogging the front acreage or mowing the yard on her riding lawn mower. Even toward the very end of life she would mention that she wanted to go buy a new mower. She loved to read, crochet and make quilts. That’s where you would find her most evenings.

Wanda loved and was loved by her family and by her friends of which she had many.

Wanda was a loving, attentive and fun mother. She worried about losing one of her children to an illness or tragedy to the point her children often joked about being the cleanest and healthiest children on the plant due to her preventative care tactics. She loved taking her children to the zoo, the park, picnics and swimming. She loved to laugh and her laugh was infectious. If you were around her it was a normal reaction to laugh with her even if you didn’t know why. Her children refer to Proverbs 31 as the perfect description of their mother. She was good, loving and a faithful wife who will be so greatly missed.

Wanda was preceded in death by her husband of 65 years, Wylie; granddaughter, Larissa Cottrell; her parents and her sister, Jean Brant.

She is survived by
daughters: Kimberly Cole-Sisemore and Tim of Sand Springs, OK and Melissa Cottrell and Keldon of Hobbs, NM;
son: John Cole and Marquita of Oklahoma City, OK;
6 grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren;
sisters: Louise Carson of Stilwell, OK, Rexene Swindle of Phoenix, Arizona and Glenda Reed of Stilwell, OK.

Active Pallbearers will be Sam Powell, Lanston Cottrell, Drew Cottrell, Davin Cottrell and Eugene Burnett.

Viewing will be 10 am – 4 pm Saturday, 2 – 8 pm Sunday, 10 am – 8 pm Monday at Agent Mallory Martin Funeral Home in Sallisaw where the family will greet 6 – 8 pm Monday.