Jerri Cole

Frances Geraldine “Jerri” Cole, 82, of Abilene, passed away on Wednesday, October 2, 2019 at Silver Springs Nursing Home.  A visitation and funeral service will be held on Saturday, October 5, 2019 at the Wylie Christian Church, 6250 Buffalo Gap Road.  The visitation will be from 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. at the church, with the funeral service to follow.  Burial will be at the Stamford Cemetery.

Jerri was born in Haskell, Texas to Willie Thomas and Mattie Loyce Boutwell.  It was there she met her husband, Charles Cole and, in 1967, they moved to Abilene with their family.  Jerri was a “Jill-of-all-trades.”  There was nothing she could not do or would not try to do.  She was a mom to many, not just her kids, but to anyone who knew her.  She was a caregiver to numerous friends and family members.  She worked as a waitress, bartender, club manager, bookkeeper, store clerk and many more jobs, doing anything and everything she was asked to do.  She would ride with Charles when he would drive for his trucking company, help him work on the trucks when needed, and she would drive the lead car, clearing the way for the over-sized rigs on the highway.  Jerri was an active member in her church, in her neighborhood and in the lives of everyone she met…you were never a stranger when you came across Jerri Cole!  Jerri always liked to say that she loved people, didn’t matter who you were or where you were from, Jerri loved people!  She also had a love for animals, her roses, her kids, grandkids, great-grandkids and her great-great grandkids.  If you knew Jerri, she loved you.

Jerri was preceded in death by her parents, Willie Thomas and Mattie Boutwell, her husband Charles J. Cole, her brother Bobby Leon Boutwell and three grandchildren, Patrick Messenger, Jonathan Arledge and Shaunel Cole.  She is survived by her sons, Don Curtis Cole and wife Lesha and Thomas Cole and wife Paula; her daughters, Frances Arledge, and Leanna Lynn Morgan and husband Chuck, several grandchildren, great grandchildren and great-great grandchildren, plus many nieces, nephews, cousins, friends and people she loved.

Condolences may be offered to the family online at www.pbfuneraldirectors.com.