By Cliff White
Staff Writer
“People were completely unprepared for this,” Carla Turner, president of Buxton and Hollis’s Dorcas Society said about the recent death of her good friend Barbara Cole.
Cole, 56, a longtime teacher in the School Administrative District (SAD) No. 6 system, as well as a member of the Dorcas Society, died Jan. 12 after a sudden and unexpected illness.
“She was at school on Friday when she felt ill and went home with flu-like symptoms. She thought she just had a stomach bug,” Turner said. “It turned out to be a massive infection that got into her heart. She died the following Saturday.”
Cole was born in Indiana in 1951, and graduated from Wheelock College in Boston with a Master’s degree from the University of Bridgeport. She began teaching in SAD No. 6 elementary schools 31 years ago, was an active member in the Dorcas Society for the past 12 years and belonged to the Saco Valley Teachers Association and the State and National Teacher Association.
Turner said Cole’s death would leave a hole in the community she worked and played in.
“No one knows what to think or do,” Turner said. “She made herself an important part of everything she did, of stepping up and taking on tasks in a quiet and understated way.”
At the time of her death, Cole was teaching a second grade class at the Frank Jewett School. Principal Don Gnecco said retired teacher Cathy Larry has stepped in to teach Cole’s class on an interim basis, until a new teacher is found.
“She was a dear colleague and friend, a beloved teacher and a solid member of our community,” Gnecco said. “It’s a terrible loss for the school and the community.”
Turner said Cole was highly respected as a teacher.
“She had a reputation for being able to handle even really tough kids in a thoughtful, helpful way,” Turner said. “She often had more than her fair share of behavioral kids in her room because she did such a nice job with them.”
Cole also helped out within the school community in extra-curricular activities, Turner said.
“She always worked on plays, productions sometimes involving the entire school. There would be 40 or 50 kids in the play and she would make costumes for everybody.”
Her affinity for costume design carried over to her assistance with the Dorcas Society’s annual performance of Kate Douglas Wiggin’s play “Old Peabody Pew.” Cole donated countless hours throughout  her years of involvement with the group, Turner said.
“She made her own costume for the play, and she worked on costumes for other people as well,” Turner said. “She was forever doing the extremely fine details of restoration work on some of the older, antique costumes, some of which were nearly a century old. We would give Barbara all the really difficult work to do because we all knew she would do the best with it. No one had to worry about burning a hole in their family heirloom wedding dress when Barbara held the iron.”
Cole had a constant positive attitude which unified and motivated those around her, Turner said.
“She had such a positive outlook that she would just work everyone into an optimistic frame of mind,” Turner said.
The Dorcas Society, an organization with many older members, including several in their 80s and 90s, are not strangers to having to deal with the passing of a member, Turner said.
“But this is shocking,” Turner said. “It wouldn’t have been shocking if it had been on of our 70- or 90-year-olds, but it was Barbara. It’s a most peculiar thing to be talking about a woman who was a month older than me having passed away. Everyone is just terribly heart-sick about it.”
Mary Weyer, director of the Salmon Falls Library in Hollis and a friend of Cole, said she worried for the children in Cole’s class at the Frank Jewett School.
“I can’t even imagine what these kids are going through,” Weyer said. “Teachers are like another parent for kids those age, and Barbara was such a wonderful person, especially to her students.”
Gnecco said the school had sent two notes home to parents in the entire school – one before Cole died saying she was seriously ill and would not be returning that year, and the other sent out the following Tuesday informing parents of her death and giving the time and date for the memorial. Gnecco said representatives of the school personally called every family in Cole’s class to inform them of Cole’s death.
“It’s a tough situation for the kids, but so far they all look fine, which is what you  hope for,” Gnecco said. “Fortunately we were able to get information to them in stages, and families were able to talk with their children about the situation.”
Gnecco said a school counselor had been working with both students in Cole’s class as well as students from the rest of the school in coping with Cole’s death.
“The kids are back in their routine now, and feel safe and secure at school,” Gnecco said. “It’s important for us to restore those feelings as fast as possible to the children because that’s what they need to feel the most.”
Cole is survived by her husband, Fred Cole, who declined to be interviewed for this article, saying it was too soon for him to talk about his wife’s death. Cole is also survived by her son, Benjamin Cole and step-daughter Carrie Cole, both of Arizona.
Her memorial service took place Sunday, Jan. 20 at the First Congregational Church of Buxton. Her family requested that in lieu of flowers, contributions could be made in her memory to the Dorcas Society of Buxton and Hollis, care of Carla Turner, 20 Salmon Falls Road, Hollis Center, ME 04042.