Obituary for Bill Cole

Avid angler and watercolorist, Bill Cole of Payson, passed on Nov. 3, 2012 after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease.
He was born in Geneva N.Y. in 1927 and spent most of his life in Upstate New York with his wife, Elaine, daughter, Deborah and son, William, with the exception of brief moves to Orlando, Fla. and Dallas, Texas. In Orlando he helped establish a successful family business before returning to his roots in New York.
Later in life he and his wife attended Christ For the Nations in Texas to study to be lay missionaries. He returned again to Upstate New York and established a church there that exemplified his spiritual life.
In 2003 he and Elaine moved yet again to Arizona so that both might enjoy a climate more favorable to their declining health. He was very active in Mountain Bible Church here.
He found the nearby lakes and streams of Rim Country to be the perfect spot for a life-long fisherman to retire.
One might be surprised that someone afflicted with Parkinson’s would be able to hold and control a paint brush, but Mr. Cole found painting using watercolor to be the perfect outlet to relieve the stress brought on by the ailment and painted right up to his final days.
He is survived by his brother, Lauren of Upstate N.Y.; sister, Phyllis of Upstate N.Y.; son, William of Everett, Wash., as well as his daughter, Deborah of Payson, who was his caregiver over the course of the last four years.
Memorial services will be held in Geneva, N.Y. for both Bill and Elaine during the summer of 2014.