Donald Frank Cole

Donald Frank Cole of Muskogee departed this life on March 14, 2022. Donny was born to Carl and Louise Cole, the second of five children. He attended school in Crane, Missouri; Sperry, Oklahoma; and Muskogee before graduating from Lockesburg High School in Lockesburg, Arkansas where he had moved to help his grandparents on their farm after his Grandpa broke his hip. As a sixth grader, he played bass at Irving Elementary School. When he wanted to take piano lessons, Mom and Dad bought an old upright piano. It was his piano, but the rest of us used it for our piano lessons too. He was a newspaper carrier for the Muskogee Daily Phoenix back when the paper was delivered on the front porch before 6 a.m. and carriers were responsible for going door-to-door to collect money from their customers. Later he worked overnight at the bank in the check sorting department. He used the income to purchase a rent house, becoming a landlord as a teenager. Donny was baptized September 24, 1972, at Central Church of Christ in Muskogee by his father. Although not faithful in regular worship attendance during his adult life, over the past several months Donny could be found reading his Bible for hours in the middle of the night. He would also hand write scriptures on random pieces of paper. When he was hospitalized in October of 2021, he requested his Bible be brought to him. He found strength in II Timothy 1:7 KJV: “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” As we read scripture at night, Donny would join and take a turn reading a chapter even though reading was difficult for him and reading aloud was painful as the cancer began to take its toll. Following moves to Tulsa, Austin, and Denver, Donny returned to Muskogee. He worked for a time as an electrician’s apprentice. He then went to work for the City of Muskogee in their Environmental Control Department. He was proud of the work he did for the city and proud of the tractor he operated. He could take apart just about anything and fix or repurpose it. He saw treasure where others saw junk and would recycle what others threw away. If there was work to be done, he made sure he did his share and some of yours too. Donny spent hours removing the old plaster walls from a bedroom in our parent’s home. He was not happy with us when we hired the sheetrock work done when he became too ill to do it. As with so many people, Donny struggled with appropriate ways to handle disappointments and losses in his life. Most of those disappointments and losses led to mental and emotional pain that he sought to numb, if only for a short time. More than once in the past few months, Donny could be heard saying the words of Paul from Romans 7:15-20. Often he would tell his siblings ‘Don’t worry about me; I’ll be alright,’ but worry we did. In the end, the physical pain he endured due to cancer became too much for him to bear. Donny was preceded in death by his mother, Louise Cole. He is survived by his father Carl Cole, Sr. of the home; siblings Carl, Jr. (Tamra) Cole of Ft. Worth, TX; Grady (Jolene) Cole of Park Hill, OK; Judy (Dennis) McDowell of Rogers, AR; Nancy (Clay) Wilkinson of Justin, TX; and his biological daughter, Amanda (Michael, Jr.) Pickens and their four daughters. He had a collection bank for Hope Harbor Children’s Home and Family Ministries. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Hope Harbor, PO Box 1047, Claremore, OK 74018 or at www.hopeharborinc.org. A celebration of Donald’s life will be at 2PM, Thursday, March 17, 2022 at Cornerstone Funeral Home with Mr. Harry Fitzgerald officiating. Interment will follow at Greenhill Cemetery.

Donald Frank Cole

August 28, 1959 - March 14, 2022