Kathleen Mary Cole, who grew up in Wainscott, died on Oct. 3 at East End Hospice’s Kanas Center for Hospice Care in Quiogue. She was 74 and had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and emphysema.
Mrs. Cole was born at Southampton Hospital on Sept. 8, 1948, to John Field and the former Mary Begley. After graduating from East Hampton High School, she went on to secretarial school and a 40-year career as a legal secretary for various law firms, ending her career with the attorney Jonathan Brown in Riverhead.
She was married on Feb. 2, 1985, to Dennis W. Cole, with whom she had a son, Christopher. The couple lived first in Southampton and moved in 1988 to Manorville. An earlier marriage to David M. Petrie ended in divorce.
Mrs. Cole was a scout leader and animal lover. An avid reader who also enjoyed writing, she started a small proofreading business after retiring. She liked hiking, camping, and traveling around this country and abroad, and she volunteered at her church, St. Peter and Paul in Manorville.
She was a devoted mother, a loving wife, and a beloved aunt, her family wrote.
Her husband, of Manorville, survives, as does her son, Christopher C. Cole of East Quogue.
A service was held on Sunday at Brockett Funeral Home in Southampton. A prayer service there on Monday was followed by burial in East Hampton, at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church’s cemetery on Cedar Street.
The family has suggested contributions in her memory to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, P.O. Box 50, Memphis, Tenn. 38101-9929; online at stjude.org, or to the Evelyn Alexander Wildlife Rescue Center, 228 West Montauk Highway, Hampton Bays 11946.
