KENNEBUNK, Maine — The community is mourning the loss of local businessman and community leader, Jeff Cole, 64, who died unexpectedly last Saturday, recalling a man who lived his life with compassion, conviction, a sense of adventure and a stalwart love of the Kennebunks.
Cole was president of the Cole Harrison Insurance Agency, joining the company in 1980 as the fifth generation of the Cole family to work in the firm. He was an active member of the community serving as a trustee of South Congregational Church in Kennebunkport, and longtime volunteer with both the Kennebunkport Fire Department and Kennebunk Fire Rescue.
Bob Foley, a partner with Cole and Jim Harrison, said the company, along with the community, is reeling from the news of Cole’s sudden death. Cole died unexpectedly Saturday morning, and it’s not known yet whether a fall from a ladder at his house several days earlier may have been a factor, Foley said. Cole had injured his back in the fall, according to Foley, and was feeling tired and weak when he left the office on Main Street after work on Friday night.
“It was a shock. Right now our concern is Jeff’s family, and getting them through this. We need to be there for them. These will be difficult days.” Foley said.
He said the outpouring of support from the many lives Cole touched has been overwhelming and deeply appreciated.
Cole’s contributions to the community were spread across many organizations over the years.
“Everything he did was to try to improve the town of Kennebunk. He was a community organizer. He was a quiet soul who just did things, not for the recognition, but because they needed to be done. He loved this community,” Foley said.
He had strong convictions, but he also appreciated other people’s perspectives and he would always listen to and respect other viewpoints, Foley said.
Cole served as an Regional School Unit 21 board member, and also served on the board of the Kennebunk Free Library and the Brick Store Museum.
He and his wife Kim founded the Kennebunk Beach Triathlon Club, and the pair were in training to compete in upcoming marathons and triathlons. Cole’s passion for triathlons heightened after he beat stage 4 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma more than 10 years ago, according to Foley.
“After the lymphoma he trained for and finished the IronMan Triathlon out in Lake Placid, New York and he was so proud of that,” Foley said. “I just remember the absolute jubilation on his face. He did what he set out to do, and that is a great testament to Jeff’s devotion and passion and his drive.”
Rev. Charlie Whiston from South Congregational Church has known Cole and his family for years, and said that Cole would see a need somewhere in the community, and would quietly find a way to help.
Whiston recalled that about 10 to 12 years ago he had a group from the church going on a mission trip, and they had been told at the last minute they needed to bring their own sleeping bags — something they hadn’t planned or budgeted for. Whiston was relating the story in a tale he was telling to the children’s group during the church service, and he said Cole was listening too.
“Jeff must have been sitting in the front that day. At the end of the service he handed me a note that said simply, don’t worry about the sleeping bags. It will be taken care of. And I remember he also wanted us to leave them behind for the homeless. That’s the kind of person he was. He saw the need, and did things, but not to raise his own flag.”
Cole ran for his RSU 21 Board of Directors seat in 2014 as a fiscal conservative. RSU 21 Superintendent Katie Hawes said, “Throughout his three year term he pushed our thinking, investing countless hours on our Facility and Finance Committees. I quickly gained a great deal of respect for him and truly valued his opinion. Even though we didn’t always agree, I really came to like Jeff. This is such a surprising and tragic loss for our community. He will be missed.”
Foley said the Cole Harrison Agency, with 16 employees in Kennebunk and one in each of the satellite offices in Kittery and Carrabassett Valley, will continue meeting the needs of their clients during this difficult time, as Cole would want them too.
“I feel like if Jeff were here, he’d say ’OK, enough fuss, get back to work, we have a job to do. That’s the way he lived his life,” Foley said.
Whiston noted the same, saying Cole offered gentle guidance during difficult times for decades while serving the community he loved.
“There’s something unique about people who are there for others when the constellations shift. To be able and willing to sit with people, that takes a special person, and Jeff and his partners quietly do that in this community and it doesn’t go unnoticed,” Whiston said. “People have been coming by and remembering all the little things that Jeff did for them, when the sands shifted in their own lives.”
Cole leaves behind his wife of over 30 years, Kim, and two children, his son Ben Cole and daughter Rachel Cole Weiss, all of Kennebunk, along with two brothers, Steven W. Cole of Rye, New Hampshire, and Joseph T. Cole of Sorrento, Florida.
Cole was a cancer survivor, and the family encourages memorial contributions to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Donor Services, P.O. Box 98018 Washington, D.C. 20090, or https://donate.lls.org/lls/donate, in his memory.
Foley said that while compassion, conviction and faith led Cole in his business and community service, they were also the forces that drove his personal passions as well. In addition to competing in marathons and triathlons, he was an accomplished hunter and fisherman as well.
One friend posted a bible verse on Facebook in honor of Cole.
“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith,” Timothy 4, verse 7.
“Losing Jeff like this so suddenly reaffirms what we all know, but often forget,” Foley said. “Our time here on Earth is unknown, and what we do when we are here is important. Jeff filled his life with important things.”
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