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In loving memory

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July 27, 1934 –  October 11, 2012  Funeral services for Ralph B. Cole, 78, will be held on Monday, October 15, 2012 at 10:00 A.M. at Faith Lutheran Church in Gainesville with Rev. Scott Sundbye Officiating. Interment will follow at Nelson Grove Cemetery in Cooke County. Services are under the direction of Meador Clement-Keel Funeral Home in Gainesville. There will be no formal visitation.

Mr. Cole passed away on Thursday, October 11, 2012 in Denton at Integrity Transitional Hospital (Seasons Hospice Unit.)

Born July 27, 1934 in Fort Worth, Texas he was a 1951 graduate of Gainesville High school and Texas A & M University in 1956. He was in the U.S. Army airborne in 1957 and was editor of The Hondo Anvil Herald in 1956-57, The Alice News 1957-59 and was City Editor of The Gainesville Daily Register from 1959-61, when he reentered the U.S. Army a commanding officer of the Gainesville National Guard Unit.

He returned to the Gainesville Daily Register in 1961 as city and farm editor of the local newspaper. In 1969, he was named an editor with The Associated Press in Oklahoma City, where he covered the House of Representatives.

He was publisher of the Sanger Courier and the Pilot Point Signal for several years before joining the Postal Service in 1978 as a rural letter carrier. He retired from the Postal Service in 1996 in Sanger.

He was member of the Sanger Independent School District Board of Trustees. He served as mayor of Sanger after leaving the board of trustees from 1976-84. Ralph married Carole D. Sluder Gonzilas on August 9, 1993 in Gainesville and was a member of Faith Lutheran Church.

Survivors include one daughter, Melissa Henson and husband Edward of Plano; a son, Thomas Edward Cole and wife Tina of Azle; sister, Eva Lela King and brother, Dr. James R. Cole of Gainesville; step sons, Jimmy Gonzilas and Michael Gonzilas of Gainesville; several nieces and nephews; grandchildren, Cole, Marshall and Tyler Henson and Annie Cole.

He was preceded in death by his parents, James Thomas and Lonnie L. Cole and wife, Carole D. Cole.

Grandsons and Stepson will serve as pallbearers.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the American Parkinson Disease Association, 135 Parkinson Ave., Staten Island, NY 10305 or apda@apdaparkinson.org.

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