William Wesley Cole, Jr.

William Wesley Cole, Jr., 88, of Naperville, IL, beloved husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and friend, passed away Friday, August 17, 2018. Born July 29, 1930, in Tuscaloosa, AL, he was the son of the late William Wesley Cole, Sr. and Mary Clark Hamner Cole; and the brother of Eloise Hatfield, Clara Findley, and John Hamner Cole, all of whom passed before him. He answered to both “Bill” and “Billy.”

A learned and sweet man, as well as a godly man of abiding faith, Bill lived a long, full, and very happy life. In the late 1940s, he worked on the railroad with his father as a telegrapher at the Wauhatchie signal tower in Chattanooga, TN. He later described his time at the railroad as the most interesting phase of his life. In the early 1950s, he served in the 28th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army as a regimental radio operator stationed in Germany. In May 1955, a job for a nighttime telegrapher opened up at the train depot in Tuscaloosa, AL, and Bill applied for it, making a decision then to go to the University of Alabama in the fall. He graduated from Alabama with a Bachelor’s degree (1959) and a J.D. (1962). He first met his dear wife, then named Joan Ethelyn Walters, at that same Tuscaloosa depot, where he worked at night while attending Alabama by day. One evening, he noticed that Joan did not have a ride back to campus, so he kindly suggested he could drive her to Harris Hall. Seeing what a real gentleman he was, Joan took him up on his offer. And the rest is a true love story. (Bill later admitted that he had his eye on Joan for a good while.) They married on July 24, 1960 at Mulberry Street Methodist Church, Macon, GA. Since 1962, Bill worked for U. S. Steel. He was so valued as an employee that the company sent him to Emory University so he could attain a Master’s in Laws of Taxation (LL.M., 1975), positioning him to take on greater responsibilities. He was recognized with several promotions and retired at 65 as the head of the U. S. Steel tax division in Chicago. Thereafter, Bill spent his well-deserved retirement doing what he loved most: spending time with his family, reading, watching Alabama football, and staying active with Joan at Grace United Methodist Church in Naperville. By all accounts, Bill was a wonderful man—easy going, content with life, and always ready for a good belly laugh. He greeted everyone he met with a smile, and was playful in conversation.

Bill is survived by his blessed wife of 58 years, Joan Walters Cole, and his three devoted children, William Wesley Cole III, Joan Harriet Cole Scott and her husband, Bradley; and Andrew Walters Cole and his wife, Catherine Dailey. He dearly loved his four grandchildren by his daughter and her husband: Emily Mary Paxton and her husband, Nathan, Anna Joan Schweikert and her husband, Kyle, Andrew James Scott, and Tyler William Scott—as well as his three great grandchildren, Calvin Bradley Paxton, Caroline Mary Paxton, and Sophia Joan Schweikert.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in Billy's name to Food for the Poor, www.foodforthepoor.org, or to a charity of your choice.

The family received friends at 11:00 a.m. with a service following at 12:00 p.m. Saturday, August 25, 2018 at A. S. Turner & Sons Funeral Home, Decatur, GA. Interment was held at 3:00 p.m. Saturday at Riverside Cemetery, Macon, GA.

Feel free to leave the family your condolences via the guestbook provided.