Dollie A. Cole
Dollie Ann Cole, 84, passed away on Aug. 24, 2014. Mrs. Cole, widow of the late Edward N. Cole, former President of General Motors Corporation, was a respected businesswoman, serving in leadership roles on numerous national and local boards including on the board of PBS, Project HOPE (World Health Organization), The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, the National Cor
vette Museum, HPSC, a national leasing and finance company based in Boston, National Captioning Institute for the Hearing Impaired, National Academy of Sciences Presidents” Circle, and the 100 Club of Central Texas, a charitable organization established to support the families of officers killed while serving the public. Mrs. Cole was also a member of the Corvair Society and was a Distinguished Woman of Northwood University.
Mrs. Cole”s interests included historic preservation, attending auctions and she was a great supporter of projects in and for Texas, including the Settlement Home for Children. Mrs. Cole also worked as a Senior Editor for Curtis Publishing.
Outspoken, bright and attractive, Mrs. Cole set a high profile standard for the auto executive wife when she arrived in Detroit in the early 1960″s. Mrs. Cole commanded the same desk from her Ranch in Lockhart, Texas, that her late husband occupied on the legendary 14th floor of the General Motors Building, buying it as a surprise for her husband when he retired. Known as a “force of nature” Mrs. Cole worked tirelessly for charities protecting children and animals.
Mrs. Cole is survived by her four children: William Jefferson McVey, III, Anne Cole Pierce, Esq., Robert Michael Joseph Cole and Edward N. Cole, Jr.; and by seven grandchildren: Alexandra C. Pierce, 2Lt. Matthew C. Pierce (US Army), Dr. Christina A. Cole, Adam H. Cole, Rita B. Cole, Edward N. Cole, III, and Gunnar M. Cole.
The family will receive friends in Texas from 3 – 9 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, Aug. 28 – 29, 2014, at the McCurdy Funeral Home, 105 E. Pecan Street, Lockhart, Texas 78644. Funeral services celebrating the life of Mrs. Cole will be held in Texas on Saturday, Aug. 30, 2014 at 11 a.m. at the TDS Pavilion located in the TDS Exotic Game Preserve, 11508 Carl Road, Buda, Texas 78610. A second celebration of the life of Mrs. Cole will be held in Michigan. The family will receive friends in Michigan on Friday, Sept. 5, 2014 from 3 – 9 p.m. at the A. J. Desmond and Sons Funeral Home, 2600 Crooks Road, Troy, Michigan 48084. A funeral service will be held at the Kirk in the Hills Church, 1340 W. Long Lake Rd., Bloomfield Hills, Michigan 48302 on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2014, at 11 a.m. with internment to follow at White Chapel Cemetery, 621 W. Long Lake Road, Troy, Michigan, 48098.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to the Michigan Animal Adoption Network, P.O Box 566, Roseville, Mich., 48066, the Air Warrior Courage Foundation, P.O. Box 877, Silver Spring, Md., 20918 or the National Corvette Museum, 350 Corvette Drive, Bowling Green, Ky., 42101.
Mrs. Cole will be greatly missed by her many friends and her family.
Arrangements under the care and guidance of McCurdy Funeral Home, 105 E. Pecan, Lockhart, Texas 78644.
Lisa and I are sorry for you loss. Dollie was a wonderful person and she will be missed by many.
Dollie was my employer and, more than that she was my friend for 29 years. She will be missed by all who knew and loved her, and we were blessed by her presence in our lives. She was definitely one of a kind. The best kind.
My deepest sympathies are with Dollie’s family during this time of loss and sorrow. I admired and respected her sense of social responsibility on the local, state, and national levels, with service to museums, charities, and other organizations. And she was always kind to my brother and to me when we were neighbors while growing up in Bloomfield Hills.
Dollie was a true inspiration to this community. She was quite active in local politics and you knew where you stood. She gave her support and opened her home to many of us for various functions
and victory parties. She was gracious in making the Masonic Lodge building in Lockhart available to the city, for expansion of our city’s Library. This is the face of Hugh opposition who wanted to shut down the longest continuous operating library in our state and move it to another location. Her dedication and support to the Pegasus project in its infancy years ago, will not be forgotten. Whether you liked her strong convictions or not, there are many in Lockhart who have passed on before her that would join me in saying…she will truly be missed.