RIP Larry O. Cole

[Coach Andy Mac]

On March 25, 2023, Rule, Texas, lost one of its leading citizens with the passing of Larry O. Cole, after a brief battle with cancer. Larry was born on a summer day in 1934, in the front room of his grandparents' house in the middle of the Great Depression. His early years growing up on the south plains deeply imprinted him with humility, West Texas wit, and a sense of duty. His family eventually moved to Fort Worth, Texas, where he grew and thrived for many decades.

He was a 1952 graduate of Arlington Heights High School in Fort Worth, Texas, and a 1956 graduate of the University of North Texas. Upon graduation Larry entered the US Air Force and served in the Strategic Air Command as a navigator/bombardier in a B-47 Stratojet bomber, stationed at Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson and Anderson AFB in Guam. In 1958, Larry married Eileen Peoples, his best friend's sister, who was a year behind him at Arlington Heights. While stationed in Arizona, Larry and Eileen welcomed their daughter, Ellen. After discharge from the Air Force in 1959, the young family returned to Fort Worth where Larry started his career in advertising, beginning at WBAP Radio and quickly moving over to the burgeoning television market. WBAP TV was the first television station in Texas and Larry's career paralleled its rise as NBC's flagship station in north Texas. The 1960s and 70s were full of changes starting with birth of their second daughter, Elizabeth. Larry traveled often to Los Angeles and New York City for national sales meetings and always enjoyed dining with celebrities when the network promoted their upcoming shows. In 1979 Larry and Eileen moved to Austin where he was general sales manager for KXAN. He retired in 1991. In the 1990s Larry started a second career researching flood maps for title insurance companies. He wryly commented that he was using his navigating skills.

read more:  https://www.statesman.com/obituaries/paco0471650