Funeral services for Mrs. Wilma Walker Cole will be on Wednesday, January 10, 2018 at Brookhaven Funeral Home (Natchez Drive) in Brookhaven, MS at 2:00 PM. Visitation will be from 1:00 PM until time of the service at 2:00 PM.

Mrs. Cole, 102, passed from this life on Monday, January 8, 2018, at Hospice Ministries Inc. in Ridgeland, MS. She was born on May 8, 1915 in Mendenhall, MS, to the late Albert Henry Walker and Elizabeth Rebecca Abernathy of the Rials Creek Community. She married Charles Hughes Cole of Monticello, MS on January 10, 1951. The Coles resided in Brookhaven most of their married life on a beef and timber farm.
Mrs. Cole attended Copiah-Lincoln Junior College and furthered her education at State Teacher's College, now the University of Southern Mississippi. Mrs. Cole received a master's degree from the University of Southern Mississippi.

Mrs. Cole was an advocate of life-long learning, believing that education is the one thing no one can take away from you. Mrs. Cole shared her knowledge with students for over 40 years teaching in Magee, Monticello, Brookhaven and at Copiah- Lincoln Junior College. She completed her teaching career at Copiah-Lincoln Junior College in 1981. She established the Reading Program in 1949 and reimplemented it in 1966 at Co-Lin. In 2002, she was recognized as Alumnus of the Year.

Mrs. Cole had a strong love of family. She loved cooking for her family, the outdoors, gardening and walking through the timber with her husband. She was involved in the Quilting Club and the Lincoln County Homemakers Club. She and Charles loved to travel and visited most of the fifty states. They were active in the Lincoln County Forestry Association and were strong advocates of stewardship and preservation of the land.

Mrs. Cole was the last surviving sibling of eight children, preceded in death by her parents and her husband, Charles Hughes Cole, of 58 years. Mrs. Cole is survived by her son, Charles Hughes Cole, Jr. (Frances); daughter, Mary Elizabeth Shivers (Robert David); four grandchildren, Christopher David Shivers (Kasey), Courtney Elizabeth Shivers, Elizabeth Frances Cole Ring (Zachary), and Emily Anne Cole(fiancé, Bo Howard); and one great grandchild Paxton Aaron Ring.

It can certainly be said of Mrs. Cole that, "she experienced a life well lived."

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be made to Copiah-Lincoln Community College, P. O. Box 457, Wesson, MS 39191.