Hubert "Colie" Cole, 83, of Horseheads, New York, formerly of Aberdeen, died Wednesday, February 20, 2008, at St. Joseph's Hospital, Elmira, N.Y.

A Celebration of Life will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 12, at Ashley Heights Baptist Church, Aberdeen, with the Rev. Zeb Moss officiating. Internment was at Woodlawn Cemetery, Elmira.

Mr. Cole was born in Aberdeen, a son of the late Isaac Jonah and Lizzie Lucas Cole. He attended Ashley Heights Baptist Church as a child and Raeford High School. He served in the U.S. Navy, Fourth Special Seabees, during World War II.

After the war, he worked as a truck driver and then as a dispatcher for Textile Trucking Company, Laurinburg. He later worked for DeWitt Trucking Company.

In 1954, Mr. Cole relocated to Elmira, N.Y., where he met his wife, Betty. He was a member of the Webb Mills Volunteer Fire Department, and a member of the Masonic Order. He enjoyed the outdoors and tending to his vegetable garden.

"He was a loving husband, father and grandfather," says a family member. "Those who met him loved him and his infectious spirit will be missed."

In addition to his parents, Mr. Cole was preceded in death by his wife, Elizabeth "Betty" Wynne Cole; three sisters, Ariel Thompson, of Candor, Melva Cornelison, of Archdale, and Lenora Thompson, of Aberdeen; and three brothers, Reece Cole, of Jackson Springs, Grady Cole, of Siler City, and Ray Cole, of Sophia.

He is survived by a daughter, Debra Cloos and her husband, Bernie, of Horseheads; a son, John Scott Cole and his wife, Amy, of Fishers, Ind.; four grandchildren, Emily Cloos and Jared Cloos, both of New York, and Michael Cole and Christopher Cole, both of Indiana; a brother, Paul Cole, of Aberdeen; and four sisters, Elaine Hendrix, of Raeford, Myrta Davis and Ruby Easterling, both of Aberdeen, and Louise Tuttle, of Aberdeen.

Memorials may be sent to the Ashley Heights Baptist Church Building Fund,10351 Aberdeen Road, Aberdeen, NC, 28315; the American Cancer Association; the Kidney Foundation or the Macular Degenerate Foundation.

Boles Funeral Home assisted the family.