GLOUCESTER - Mary L. (Sylvester) Cole, 93, died Friday, May 9, 2014, at the Seacoast Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, where she had resided for the last six months. She was the wife of the late Roger E. Cole, who died in September of 1999. They had shared sixty years of marriage.
Born in Brookline, Mass. “one street over from the Kennedys” as she often said, on November 24, 1920, she was the daughter of the late George F. and Mary Alice (Smith) Sylvester.
She moved to Gloucester at the age of 13 and was a graduate of the St. Ann High School, class of 1938.
Mary was a Rosie the Riveter during World War II, rewinding many of the famous Gloucester fishing fleet’s electric motors for T. Cooney and Sons Electricians. After the war, Mary continued her employment with Cooney’s as a bookkeeper for more than thirty years. She was a former president of the Curtis Clark Building Tenants’ Organization and formerly an active member of the Amvets Auxiliary.
Mary loved her family, fried clams, scratch tickets and playing golf at the Cape Ann Golf Club in Essex. She played Bingo all her life and always, always won.
She is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, Ronald A. and Patricia (Maciolek) Cole of Dover, NH; four grandchildren, Christopher A. Cole of Mattapoisett MA, Erin L. Cole of Ocean View HI, Amelia M. Cole of Boston, MA, John A. Cole II of Bethlehem, NH and three great-grandchildren, Christopher Kai Lubke, Nicholas Koa Lubke, and Charlotte Anne Cole, a sister, Theresa A. Sylvester. She was also predeceased by two sisters, Elizabeth Worth and Katherine Conley.
Her funeral service will be held on Friday, May 16, 2014 at 1:00 pm in the Beechbrook Cemetery, 401 Essex Ave Gloucester. Relatives and friends are cordially invited. There are no visiting hours. Family flowers only. Donations can be made in Mary’s memory to the Rose Baker Senior Center, 6 Manual F. Lewis St. Gloucester MA 01930. Arrangements are under the direction of the Pike-Grondin Funeral Home, 61 Middle Street, Gloucester.