Mary Jane Thomas-Stahle Cole, 95, died March 5, 2011 at Mertens House in Woodstock, Vermont. She was born in Manila, the Philippines, on February 6, 1916, daughter of the late Colonel Charles Thomas-Stahle and Mary Irvin Thompson of State College, Pennsylvania. She attended Pennsylvania State University, graduating in the class of 1938 with a Liberal Arts Degree and in 1939 receiving a BS in landscape architecture. On February 6, 1943 she married Preston Mansfield Cole of Dedham, Massachusetts while both were employed in the camouflage section of the Engineer Board at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. When Captain Cole returned from service with the Marines in the South Pacific the couple settled in Woodstock, Vermont where they lived for forty-eight years. Mrs. Cole was a Cub Scout den mother, a Girl Scout leader for many years, designed the landscaping for Faulkner Park on Mountain Avenue (and numerous other buildings around the state of Vermont), sang in the choir of the First Congregational Church and, in the 1960's, served on the Elementary School Board. She resigned from the School Board in order to establish a school library. With the cooperation of the citizens of Woodstock, who volunteered their time and expertise, not to mention gifts of hundreds of volumes, the library endeavored to teach the love of books and reading, as well as library skills, to the students and to provide a resource for the teachers. It was one of the earliest elementary school libraries in the state.
Mrs. Cole is survived by two sons, Peter and wife Elizabeth Mary Cole of Carlisle, MA and Andrew and wife Jerri Colby Cole of Barnard, VT; two daughters, Catherine and husband Richard Esty of New Haven, VT, and Ann and husband Greg Kandis of Waterford, VT; nine grandchildren, two great grandchildren, one niece and three nephews. Her husband Preston M. Cole and her brother James Irvin Thomas-Stahle predeceased her.
A family graveside service will be held in Riverside Cemetery in the late spring. Cabot Funeral Home (cabotfh.com) is in charge of arrangements. Memorial contributions may be made to the Woodstock Elementary School Library, 15 School Street, Woodstock, VT 05091.