Funeral services for Wilma Walker Cole, of Brookhaven, are today, Jan. 10, 2018, at 2 p.m. at Brookhaven Funeral Home (Natchez Drive).

Visitation will be today, Jan. 10, 2018, from 1 p.m. until time of service at the funeral home.

Mrs. Cole, 102, died Monday, Jan. 8, 2018, at Hospice Ministries Inc. in Ridgeland. She was born May 8, 1915, in Mendenhall, to the late Albert Henry Walker and Elizabeth Rebecca Abernathy of the Rials Creek Community. She married Charles Hughes Cole, of Monticello, Jan. 10, 1951.  The Coles resided in Brookhaven most of their married life on a beef and timber farm.

She attended Copiah-Lincoln Junior College and furthered her education at State Teacher’s College, now the University of Southern Mississippi. She received a master’s degree from the University of Southern Mississippi.

She was an advocate of life-long learning, believing that education is the one thing no one can take away from you. She 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.

She 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 50 states. They were active in the Lincoln County Forestry Association and were strong advocates of stewardship and preservation of the land. She was the last surviving sibling of eight children. It can certainly be said of Mrs. Cole that, “she experienced a life well lived.”

Preceded in death by her parents; husband, Charles Hughes Cole, of 58 years.

Survivors are 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.

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

To share condolences, visit www.brookhavenfuneralhome.net.