Betty Cole (d. 2007). Cole started coming in 1962 after looking for a religious education program for her children. Three of her six children, Cole’s son David, and her daughters Loren Cole Beecher and Paula Cole Jones, returned as adults and are members of All Souls. Cole served on the RE Committee (1984) and was active in Ethical Dialogues.
Religious education was very important to her and had a lot to do with her continuing interest in the Sunday School. She believed that youngsters can’t live fully without religion and a sense of the sacred. She also believed that caring and love were critical to spiritual growth and that youngsters can be affected and changed by education and by people who care.
Cole grew up in DC and graduated from Dunbar High School in 1945. She initially set her sights on pursuing a degree in Zoology at Howard, but married and began raising a family. With tuition and six children to raise, there were periods when Cole had to work nights at the post office and at Cardoza Brothers Beauty Salon. But she never lost sight of or deviated from her educational goals and the persistence required to prepare herself academically for her emerging interests.
Cole was an advocate for education, hers and others, and had a long career as a teacher and mentor. She taught at Moten Elementary School and Douglass Junior High, and later taught English at the University of DC after her retirement from the DC schools. Cole earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Federal City College in 1971 and a master’s degree in education from UDC.