Obituary
Linda Lee Kowalski was born April 10, 1948, in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, to Ted and Caroline Kowalski. She is survived by her husband of 54 years, Fred Cole, daughter Colleen Ann Raya (Ray) and grandson Trail. Also surviving are her sister Randy MacDonald (Donald), Roseville Michigan, brother Kim Kowalski, Port Orange, Florida, and Sister-in-law Rosemary Cole of New Smyrna Beach.
She attended school in Roseville and was in the same kindergarten class as her future husband, Fred Cole, but didn’t know it until many years later while looking at their kindergarten diploma. In high school she took secretarial classes including shorthand, typing, and collating. Linda got a job with the co-op high school as a secretary followed by many jobs in this field including with US M Corporation, the Red Cross, Roseville Police Records, Recreation Department, and finally as secretary with the Roseville Police Undercover Detectives. She joined her husband at Fort Lee while he was in the army and continued her secretarial work.
Linda can be described as a very happy person who loved listening to the radio and singing along with the songs of the 60’s and 70’s, most of which she knew all the words. She was a swimmer, snowmobiler, hiker, camper, and a fun companion. She was also a pretty good cook and made jams, canned pears, and ketchup from scratch.
She took classes at Macomb College in statistics as well as other courses including cooking with her best friend Gail. They brought home samples every night. Linda had many friends and was on the phone constantly in conversations with them.
In 1967, Linda married Fred Cole, they were 17 when they started to date and at 19, Fred asked Linda to marry him while they were still in high school. They got married on the weekend at the Justice of the Peace in Mount Clemens and went to Niagara Falls on February 11, 1967. Years later they renewed their vows at Sacred Heart Church in front of all the school children, apparently the first marriage didn’t take. They rented their first home in Ruthdale from Fred’s parents. It didn’t have a stove for cooking but some friends from the metal shop class gave them one.
Their daughter, Colleen Ann, was born in 1974 and she was a handful but brought much laughter and happiness into their lives. Linda enjoyed traveling with her family to Europe, Aruba, Mexico, and many more trips throughout the U.S. and Canada. She retired in 2008 and moved to New Smyrna Beach where she began water painting and participated in many church activities including serving meals to the needy and working in the food pantry. Even through her battle with dementia, Linda was grateful and never lost her ability to laugh.
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