"Thank you for the music" ~ Christine Cole

Christine Cole 1932 – 2024 

Parkland at The Lakes, Dartmouth NS
 
“All music should be to the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul.”  JS Bach  

It is with deep gratitude for a life filled with love, laughter and music that we announce the peaceful passing of Christine Cole, Church Organist & Choir Director, Piano Teacher, Registered Nurse, Wife, Mother, Grandmother and Proud Newfoundlander at the ripe old age of 91. 

Jessie Christine Penney was born premature on Monday November 14, 1932 in Carbonear, Newfoundland to Master Mariner Captain Stephen Luther Penney and Cecilia (Butt) Penney. Christine spent the first touch-and-go weeks of her life in a bread pan with cotton batting and olive oil, incubating in the kitchen stove's warming oven, buoyed by the prayers of her mother and family. 

Rise up, she did...and she never really stopped for the next 91 years. As the youngest daughter of a "foreign going” schooner and steamer Captain, Christine's well-provisioned childhood was defined by and filled to the gunnels with tales of Captain Penney's voyages to Brazil, Portugal, Jamaica, Spain and beyond. Being a Merchant Mariner Master during the turbulent 1930's and 1940's was not for the faint of heart. (how many people do you know who survived a U-Boat attack in WW1...AND WW2 ?) Often with his elder sons as crew, Captain Penney sailed the world, routinely defying convention and the odds, always returning safely to port and family. 

Young Christine grew up largely protected from the realities of The Great Depression and World War II, with a childhood full of happy shenanigans under the wings of her older sisters, kept safe from harm by her rugged brothers.  From giggling in the rumble seat of the family's Model A to having the fastest sled in town ( formerly her sister's sealskin coat ) or hitching the family dog to a wagon as her personal chariot, there was rarely a dull moment.  Ever the individual of spirit, her very early interest in music gave Christine room in her large family to carve out a place for herself (and gleefully avoid some of the cooking, cleaning and other chores assigned to her elder siblings). 

Carbonear Methodist Church's pipe organ, with eight hundred and fifty-eight pipes, called to young Christine and by age 7 she had her first Music Theory Certificate from Trinity College, London. Beethoven, Bach and Tchaikovsky would  become the soundtrack to a life in music.

Christine excelled in school, classical piano and pipe organ before training at St. John's General Hospital, becoming a Registered Nurse in the Class of 1954. Christine quickly became Head Nurse on the Orthopedic ward and participated in her Class Reunions with “the General girls” for over 50 years. 

Christine loved to dance and met Nathaniel Cole of Victoria BC (the real BC, "Behind Carbonear") on a double date, though not with each other. Nat was also from a large churchgoing family, had attended Memorial University and was starting a career in Finance & Real Estate. He was not only good-lookin', he was also a childhood friend of Christine's brother Les...and her brother Robin was married to Nat's cousin Beulah.  Christine & Nat (“JC Penney & Nat King Cole” to their pals) got along like a house on fire. Their courtship in St. John's and around the Bay included dances in Harbour Grace and boiling up on the Barrens with Les and his gal Marlene as well as Nat's sister Betty and her beau Sandy Carter, along with other future married couples and lifelong friends. 

Married at Carbonear United Church on August 25, 1955 in what was described in the August 31st edition of the St. John's Daily News as perhaps the prettiest wedding of the Carbonear Wedding Season, Christine & Nat went on to spend virtually all their time together for the next 46 years. They rarely exchanged a harsh word with each other (or anyone else) and raised three sons (Winston, David and Stephen).  Nat's career was blessed with fair winds, which took them to Mount Pearl, Corner Brook, Halifax, Dartmouth, Oakville, New Glasgow and Dartmouth again, accumulating a bounty of lifelong friendships. Family vacations were of course always to see other family members in Carbonear, Victoria, St. John's, Oakville, Etobicoke and Boston. 

Christine and her family were Church-goers. For 55 years, from 1965 until 2020, Christine was an Organist & Choir Director at Steven's Road Baptist, Burlington Baptist, Trenton United, Sharon St. John United, West End Baptist, Birch Cove Baptist, Bedford Baptist, United Memorial and Church of The Holy Spirit. Christine was also an interim Organist, Guest Organist, Wedding and Funeral Organist at virtually every place of worship of every faith and at most every funeral home in the HRM and beyond. If a Church had a really good organ...she'd find a way to play it!

Christine was a Member of the Royal Canadian College of Organists for decades and taught well over 1,000 people how to play the piano out of her home, including most of her six beloved grandchildren. If the Guinness Book had a record for most times Beethoven's Fur Elise were played in a home, Christine would own it.

Christine was a Loyal Monarchist. Newfoundland was a British Colony until 1949, so Christine was always a Big Fan of Queen Elizabeth II and the Royal Family. She saw the Queen on her visit to Corner Brook on June 19, 1959, always knew all the latest Royal Gossip, rarely missed a Royal Issue of Hello! Magazine and thoroughly enjoyed all things English & British.

Christine had other interests, too. She loved a good game of 45's and was a candlepin bowler for many years. Favorite Movies: The Sound of Music and Gone With the Wind. Secret Crush: William Shatner as Captain James T Kirk. Christine & Nat were also avid Golfers (duffers really, but they had fun) and pretty good Bridge players; Graham & Marg Conrad were their most frequent opponents. After Nat's (too early) death in 2001,  Bridge with her many “Dartmouth Church Lady” friends at the Brightwood Golf & Country Club became a can't miss part of her busy social calendar, as was playing piano for Residents of Nursing Homes around town. 

Christine was all about Girl Power long before Barbie came along. It was never any secret that while Christine was watchful, protective and stout in raising her three sons to her stringent household standards..she had always wanted at least one daughter. ( Christine's daughters in law each have secrets and stories about her life she never told her sons.) Thankfully, her two Nieces Peggy & Cindy were always there to enable Christine's love of dress shopping and high tea habits...and each was bedside with Christine in her final days. They were more like Sisters than most sisters. (note to Mic Mac Mall; your sales numbers in Womens Wear, Shoes, Bags and Lancombe skin cream are about to drop. Sorry.)    

Christine's three Grandsons William, John & Nathan were the source of unending Grandma Bragging. (Parkland Staff called more than once to ask if the impossibly handsome, successful young men Christine was swooning about actually existed.)   

Christine's three Grand-Daughters Emma, Jillian and Jenette were special to her. Apples of her eye, each. Irish Dance, Ballet, Clarinet, Flute, Hand Bells...whatever her 3 Grand-Daughters were involved in, Christine was all-in with a big smile. Likewise, Newfoundland Nieces Brenda & Christine each had special bonds with their Aunt and were always cause for restaurant family dinners when in town for Conferences and Dog Shows.

Christine played until the end. Christine maintained the ability to play the piano until weeks before her passing and was entertained in her final hours by one of our oldest Friends, Pianist & Baritone Mervyn George.  God Bless you, Mervyn. 

The Abiding Power of Music. Lest anyone doubt the power of music in connecting with a dementia sufferer, know that in the days before Christine's passing, at her lowest ebb, while trying to coax her into just a sip of water, "I Walk the Line" by Johnny Cash came on the radio. Christine immediately started bobbing her head, tapping her feet, the corners of her mouth lifting. 

A Special Thanks to Parkland at the Lakes  for the kindness, exceptional care and top-quality lifestyle enjoyed by Christine in her twilight years.  As Christine's Dementia inevitably progressed and moved her from Assisted Living to Memory Care then to Enriched Care, she was able to maintain her treasured personal privacy, dignity and piano with her until the end. Having seen closed wards and shared rooms in many facilities for decades as a volunteer, friend, relative...and  viewed with the unvarnished clinical clarity of a Registered Nurse... Christine never wanted to be in what she called "old people's jail."  She knew and instructed her sons many years in advance that if she couldn't spend her final years at home, marching to the beat of her own drum, Parkland Dartmouth was her only choice. 

A Tip of the Hat to our Community Police for their informal watchfulness over Christine, her home and the gentle reminders instead of tickets in her "Little Old Lady from Pasadena" years. The Christmas & Easter Seasons are a Church Organist's busiest times of the year, so Christine had been buzzing all over the city to Services, Cantatas and Choir Practices...not to mention the Malls ...at all hours of the day and night for at least half the year every year until her late 80's.  Much like The Captain in so many ways,  she tended to "take her half out of the middle" of the road and had her own personal speed limits...which also pretty much describes the way Christine lived her life. 

Christine Cole is survived by three sisters-in-law;  Betty (Cole) Carter, Oakville Ontario; Sue Cole, Hanover Ontario and Minnie Penney, St. John's Newfoundland. Her eldest son Winston (Eva) Cole, Bedford and his greatest achievements Emma Christine Robillard Cole, Halifax and William Nathaniel (Nala ) Robillard Cole, Los Angeles. Christine is also survived by the families of her recently deceased sons; David's twin grandchildren Nathan (Kyra) Cole, Jenette Cole of Brampton, their mother Michelle Cole as well as Stephen's family  Jillian (Josh Hermanson), Middle Sackville, John Cole, Montreal and their mother Elizabeth Cole. The loss of two sons in the final year of Christine's life were crushing blows. With her hardy seafaring roots, Christine was never one to shed a tear, but the rivers flowed when she learned of each loss.

Christine will be holding Choir Practice in Heaven on Wednesdays at 7pm sharp with family who predeceased her. She hopes (but doubts) Nat has learned to sing in key since his passing in 2001; as always, she'll tell him to mouth the words. Joining in will be her dutiful Son David (d March 2023. w. Michelle; c. Nathan & Jenette) and darling Son Stephen (d November 2023. w. Elizabeth; c. Jillian & John). The chorale will also include late siblings William (Kitty) Penney, Malcolm (Glenis) Penney, Mona ( Max Johnson), Clyde (Edith) Penney, Norma (Jack) Penney, Les (Marlene) Penney, Rob (Beulah) Penney, Flora (Lloyd) Head, Dolf Penney (w. Minnie, c. Cindy, Lynda, Rob) along with all of Nat's departed siblings and their spouses.  ( there really are too many to name, but all know they are loved) Christine's Heavenly Pipe Organ will be powered by Nephew Douglas Penney's megawatt smile.

In lieu of flowers for Christine, please take the time to bring flowers to someone living with Dementia in a care facility near you ...or simply visit an elderly person in care. Dementia is a heartbreakingly lonely disease and the one thing everyone in care yearns for is more visitors.   

Christine Cole's Celebration of Life was held at Port Wallis United Church, 263 Waverley Road, Dartmouth Nova Scotia at 11AM on Saturday April 20, 2024. 1980's Pine Hill roomate of David's and "Official Minister to the Cole Family" ever since, Rev Ivan Gregan officiated. Joining Ivan was Rev Edwin Ebsary, Rector of the Church of The Holy Spirit, Christine's "last church", with Eulogy by family friend Norman Hill   A delicious UCW Luncheon followed in the Church Hall.

Christine will be reunited with Nat at the Pentecostal Cemetery in Victoria NL surrounded by local members of families Penney & Cole one glorious sunny day this summer, date TBD. 

Online Obituary and Condolences   www.dartmouthfuneralhome.ca  www.christinecole.ca