Aaron J. Cole

Aaron J. Cole, age 89 of Wirtz died Sunday, November 14, 2010. He was the youngest of 9 children born to Letcher and Lucy Pearl Finchum Cole on June 5, 1921 in Floyd, Virginia. During World War II he worked in the Naval Shipyard in Norfolk, Virginia and later moved to Roanoke, Virginia where he began a 30 year career as a machinist with the Norfolk & Western Railway. On June 9, 1949 he married Ruth Fralin Cole, the love of his life at Trinity Methodist Church in Raleigh, North Carolina and settled in Roanoke where they worked together to raise four children. Upon retirement, Aaron and Ruth moved to Wirtz in Franklin County, Virginia where they enjoyed being active in their community, especially the Red Valley United Methodist Church. Aaron’s survivors include his wife, Ruth Fralin Cole; daughters, Carolyn Cole Hill and husband Jack in Wichita Falls, Texas; Andrea Cole Bender and husband Bradley in Draper, Utah; sons Alan Barry Cole and wife Kathy DeHart Cole in Suffolk, Virginia; Wade Douglas Cole and wife Mary Webb Cole in Austell, Georgia. Also surviving are grandchildren Stephanie Hill Drury, Jennifer Hill MacLean, John Sanford Hill III, Randall Aaron Bender, Joel Bradley Bender, Charles Alan Cole, Christy Anne Cole, Nicholas Aaron Cole, Jonathan Aaron Cole, Garrett Douglas Cole, Maggie Suzanne Cole, as well as great-grandchildren Judah and Rilian Drury, Isabel MacLean, Jacob, Brian, Jada, and Brianna Cole. Also surviving are numerous nieces and nephews; and caregiver, Carolyn Wray. Aaron was preceded in death by his parents; brothers, Oliver, Palomar, Leslie, and Clem; and 4 sisters Mamie, Sylvia, Alverta, and Ora. Funeral services will be conducted from Red Valley United Methodist Church 11 a.m. Thursday with Rev. Jim Burns officiating. Interment will follow in the church cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Red Valley United Methodist Church, 30 Red Valley Road, Boones Mill, Virginia 24065. His family will receive friends 6-8 p.m. Wednesday at Flora Funeral Service & Cremation Center, Rocky Mount and following the service in the Fellowship Hall at Red Valley.