Sad News- We lost a friend today- Gene Cole
Posted: Mon Oct 07, 2019 4:05 pm
Today I lost a dear friend and fellow phonograph collector. Gene Cole passed away today just before 1:00 pm. Last Tuesday, Gene fell at home and broke his hip. After the surgery to repair the break, he declined very quickly--
Gene was 94 ½ years young. He was a World War II veteran, a successful small business owner, active in his church and a regular at Phonograph shows and auctions.
He and I met in 1992. Though I am nearly 30 years younger than Gene, I helped him get started collecting phonographs. He had just retired and sold his business when he found a Diamond Disc machine at a yardsale. A mutual friend put him in touch with me and we began a friendship that lasted for 27 years.
Gene jumped into the hobby with a passion and quickly became known in our area for the quality of his collection and for his restoration abilities. He and his wife Ellen enjoyed traveling to all the shows- Orlando, Charlotte, Union, Wayne, as well as Stanton's auctions.
I've spent many an hour with Gene in his shop, while we scratched our heads over a machine that wouldn't run right. As my kids got older and I had more time, Gene and I traveled to many of the shows together. He never lost his love for the hobby and for the 'deal'. Just a few weeks ago, he asked me to help him leave an absentee bid on a front-mount Columbia AH. He was sure he could fix it up and "make a real nice piece." Even last week after his fall and surgery, when I visited him in the hospital, he was talking about a machine he wanted to buy on Craigslist.
His daughter Debbie, wife Ellen, a couple of his church friends and I were with him when he passed peacefully into the hands of his loving God. I will miss him dearly.
Brad Abell
Gene was 94 ½ years young. He was a World War II veteran, a successful small business owner, active in his church and a regular at Phonograph shows and auctions.
He and I met in 1992. Though I am nearly 30 years younger than Gene, I helped him get started collecting phonographs. He had just retired and sold his business when he found a Diamond Disc machine at a yardsale. A mutual friend put him in touch with me and we began a friendship that lasted for 27 years.
Gene jumped into the hobby with a passion and quickly became known in our area for the quality of his collection and for his restoration abilities. He and his wife Ellen enjoyed traveling to all the shows- Orlando, Charlotte, Union, Wayne, as well as Stanton's auctions.
I've spent many an hour with Gene in his shop, while we scratched our heads over a machine that wouldn't run right. As my kids got older and I had more time, Gene and I traveled to many of the shows together. He never lost his love for the hobby and for the 'deal'. Just a few weeks ago, he asked me to help him leave an absentee bid on a front-mount Columbia AH. He was sure he could fix it up and "make a real nice piece." Even last week after his fall and surgery, when I visited him in the hospital, he was talking about a machine he wanted to buy on Craigslist.
His daughter Debbie, wife Ellen, a couple of his church friends and I were with him when he passed peacefully into the hands of his loving God. I will miss him dearly.
Brad Abell