Randy Cole:
CLASS OF 1959
Queen Elizabeth Elementary SchoolClass of 1959
Vegreville, AB
Vegreville Composite High SchoolClass of 1967
Vegreville, AB
Peter Svarich High SchoolClass of 1966
Vegreville, AB
A.L. Horton Junior High SchoolClass of 1964
Vegreville, AB
Randy's Story
My Teachers at Queen Elizabeth Elementary:
Grade 1 (1955-1956) - Gertrude Holden
Grade 2 (1956-1957) - Grace Little
Grade 3 (1957-1958) - Steve Uniat
Grade 4 (1958-1959) - Mrs J. E. Reidlinger
Grade 5 (59-60) Old High School Bldg east of Cenotaph - Andy Rogalsky
Grade 6 (60-61) Vegreville Jr. High - Muriel Patterson
Grade 7 (61-62) Vegreville Jr. High - Eileen Cassidy
Grade 8 (62-63) A.L. Horton Jr. High - Alex Gordey
Grade 9 (63-64) A.L. Horton Jr. High - Ramona Strong
My most memorable teachers at Peter Svarich High School for Grades 10 and 11 were John Sprigings and Nick Zakordonski: John because he had such a passion for French and was just an all-around good guy; and Zak because he pretended to be such a tough guy in class when he'd roll up his sleeve, flex his bicep and announce (with a barely perceptible glint in his eye) that he was a boxing legend in the armed forces and so all of us better behave...but was really a great big pussycat. I don't ever recall him using a students' first name. It was always "Cole", although he only lived a couple of doors down and across the street from us.
My two most vivid memories from grades nine to twelve were:
1. the day JFK was killed in Dallas on Nov 22, 1963. My grade 9 home room teacher, Ramona Strong, came to class around 11:00 am and announced she had just heard on the radio in the staff lunchroom that President Kennedy had been shot. I remember running home at lunch, turning on the television and watching Walter Cronkhite announce (just before I had to leave and go back to school around 12:45) that the President was dead.
2. the day a real special classmate of mine, Sheila Richmond, was killed in a horrific car accident just east of Vegreville. Her dad, Jim, the local Bank of Montreal manager was also killed and Donna Wade (now Ziegler) was severely injured. I was a pallbearer for Sheila and remember for a long time after feeling guilty that I wasn't in that car. A few of us had gone up to Edmonton to attend Varsity Guest Weekend. We had taken two cars. Richmonds wanted to leave early so they could go watch Jim's wife Edna curl in Viking. A pair of my running shoes were in the car when it crashed because I decided to stay later and return to Vegreville in the second car.
I was very proud to be a part of the very first graduating class of the new Vegreville Composite High School in June, 19...Expand for more
67.
After graduating High School, I attended Camrose Lutheran College (now Augustana) for 1 year. Had lots of fun there but didn't do much studying. Did learn how to play bridge though!! I joined the Bank of Montreal in 1968 and spent 6 years with that organization and was transferred to various branch locations throughout Alberta and B.C.
From 1974 to 1979 I attended both the University of Alberta & NAIT. Then got in to the construction field in Grande Prairie and was there when Trudeau's National Energy Program took effect!! Moved back to the Edmonton area in 1981 and got in to the insurance business in Spruce Grove that year. Stayed in that field for 20 years and "retired" following the 9/11 attacks... I think a lot of people re-evaluated their lives after that fateful day!!. Always had a desire to run my own business so purchased a franchise in Red Deer in early 2002, and because business was so good opened a second location a couple of years later. Staffing turned out to be a huge problem so we sold both stores in 2006 and retired again. For four years I worked as a marshal at a local golf course but because I got really bored over the winter, I decided in the fall of 2010 to get a real job again so I signed up for some construction security work at Edmonton International Airport.
I have a wonderful wife, Marlene, three step children and NINE grand daughters. We now pass the days working part-time, tending to acreage chores and travelling in our motorhome, and oh yes...babysitting a lot!! I hope to visit the northeastern U.S. in the next few years to do some genealogical research on the Cole Family. My great great grandfather, George L. Cole was an early settler in the Old Vegreville District having first travelled to the area from Minnesota in 1899. I have traced my ancestry back to the early 1600's in Massachusetts and Maine (also to the late 1500's in Bristol, England) and have documented this on a website:
genealogy.com/users/c/o/l/Randy-Cole/index.html
My dad, Terry passed away in 2007 and my mom, Marion, who was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) in the fall of 2011 passed away in June, 2012. Younger brother Cam is a sports columnist with the Vancouver Sun. Marlene and I live on an acreage in the Spruce Grove/Stony Plain area with our loyal Golden Retriever, Trooper.
I have to say life is very good for a couple of old folks!
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