Charlotte R. Hey Cole

ELWOOD – Charlotte R. Hey Cole, age 88, of Elwood, passed away on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2020, at Elwood Health and Living following an extended illness.
Charlotte was born in Shelby County on March 31, 1932, to the late Henry and Gladys (Weber) Hey. Charlotte graduated from Waldron High School in 1950.
She was a homemaker, well that’s not true. She was a home fixer upper. She loved buying older homes and fixing them up. She did extreme makeovers before extreme makeovers were cool. Charlotte had nine children, so she had a lot of free labor to help her out. Once the homes were finished, she would fill them with knickknacks, mostly Hummels and birds. Her kids loved keeping them dust free.
Charlotte also loved her garden of fresh vegetables. (She had free labor for her garden too.)   We swear she lived on fresh tomatoes, green beans and corn every summer. She was also a great cook; no one could make better fried chicken and homemade noodles. We’ve tried and the results have been depressing.
As a military wife to Chief Warrant Officer 3, Herman Cole, who preceded her in death, Charlotte got to travel the world.  From Germany to Indiana to Hawaii to South Korea and many places in between, she loved them all. In her travels, she would occasionally lose a kid or grandkid (with the help of Aunt Helen) but it was temporary. What the heck, she had a few spares.
Charlotte is survived by eight children. Stephen (Tami) Cole of Elwood, Michael (Kathy) Cole of Wisconsin, Ronald (Lisa) Cole of Elwood, Mary Beth (Lew) Corya of Texas, Nancy (Jeff) Christman of Minnesota, Carol (Phillpe) Ruiz of California, Jon Cole of Elwood and Susan (Shawn) Cole McFarland of Whitestown; 15 grandchildren; 14 great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.
Charlotte was preceded in death by her parents, Henry and Gladys Hey; daughter, Debbie Ann Cole; brother, Robert Hey;, and six sisters, Dorcas Daniels, Jo Gregory, Nancy Tanner, Mary Beyer, Helen Mohr and Margery Hey.
Private family services will take place on Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2020, at Dunnichay Funeral Home in Elwood. Burial will follow in Forest Hill Cemetery in Shelbyville.
Charlotte loved flowers and would have liked it if we supported local florists during these challenging times. So no “in lieu of flowers.” We love you Mom.
Online condolences can be given at www.dunnichayfuneralhome.com.