Nancy H. Cole
Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal.
Nancy Helen Cole (nee Magnussen), loving wife, mother, grandmother, sister, daughter, and friend passed away peacefully at her home in Prairie du Sac surrounded by her family at the age of 79 on Oct. 14, 2020, due to cancer.
She was born on April Fool’s Day, 1941 in New Milford, Connecticut to Norman and Marion (Chrysler) Magnussen. Her family eventually moved to Wisconsin and settled in Lake Mills. She graduated from Lake Mills High School in 1959 and attended Patricia Stevens Career College in Milwaukee.
She married Phil Cole, on June 8, 1967, and they raised two children, John and Sarah, in Prairie du Sac. She spent over 20 years working in retail, primarily fashion – at the Hub in Madison, then at Riverside Fashions/Ace Hardware, and finally at Lands’ End.
Nancy was a one of a kind. She always had a smile for people, was quick to laugh, and looked for the humor in things, even after receiving her devastating diagnosis. She was very active, always keeping busy, getting in her 10,000 steps, doing her “paper route” – going around the Continental Country Club during their winters in Florida and bringing elderly neighbors their newspapers – and she volunteered for years with the Caring Tree. She loved to golf and was a member of the Lake Wisconsin Country Club. She had a great spirit of adventure – she loved to try new things and go to new places – but she also was content to spend time baking cookies for her grandkids or doing some of her many craft activities like quilting and glasswork.
Nancy was preceded in death by her father, Norman, and her mother, Marion.
She is survived by her husband Phil, her two children, John (Angie) Cole and Sarah (J.Patrick) Briscoe, and her three grandchildren, J.Arthur and David Briscoe and Castin Cole, as well as her siblings, Gary, Wayne (Sharon), and Norm (Traci) Magnussen and extended family.
Nancy wished to be cremated and have a private memorial with close family at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, Nancy wished for memorials to be made to St. Vincent de Paul for money to be given to The Caring Tree in Prairie du Sac, WI.
She was not able to reply to all the well wishes she received – via phone, email, cards, etc. but she really appreciated all of the love and care shown to her at the end of her life.
I’d like the memory of me to be a happy one. I’d like to leave an afterglow of smiles when life is done. I’d like to leave an echo whispering softly down the ways. Of happy times and laughing times and bright and sunny days. I’d like the tears of those who grieve, to dry before the sun. Of happy memories that I leave when life is done.
Online condolences may be made at hooversonfuneralhomes.com
