Suzanne Marie Cole, 69, of Winchester, VA, died Friday, October 7, 2016 at Blue Ridge Inpatient Care Center in Winchester.
She was born August 21, 1947 in Washington, DC; the daughter of James T. and Grace Bombardier McIlwee. She was a member of Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church. She retired from Sinclair Community College, Dayton, OH as an admissions officer.
Suzanne married Dean Evan Cole June 8, 1968 in McLean, VA.
She is survived by her husband Dean; two children, Lisa Anne Cole of Columbia, MD and Matthew Dean Cole, and his wife, Nikki, of Minneapolis, MN; one brother, James T. McIlwee of Centreville, VA and one sister, Barbara Klear, of Tappahannock, VA, and three grandchildren.
As an Air Force wife Suzanne supported her family and our country through many travels and separations in wartime and peacetime. She provided the solid loving foundation for a family that moved often to include the states of Texas, California, Arkansas, Alabama, and Ohio and the country of Germany. She worked as a college registrar and administrative assistant, a substitute teacher, a social services director in several nursing homes, and as a Sinclair Community College admissions officer. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland and her Master’s from Wright State University, Dayton OH. Everywhere she lived and worked she made lasting friends and differences in people’s lives. As a wife, mother, mentor, or friend there was none better.
She will be sorely missed by all of us. But she has prepared us well and we are better by far for the privilege and experience of being loved by her and loving her. We rest easier knowing that she fought the good fight right till the end and in the faith that tells us that she rests in the care of our Lord.

The family will receive friends Wednesday, October 12, 2016 at Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church from 10:00 am – 11:00 am. A funeral will be held at 11:00 am at the church with The Rev. Dr. David N. Young officiating.
Memorial contributions may be made to Blue Ridge Hospice, 333 West Cork Street, Winchester, VA 22601 or The Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC) Network Foundation here https://www.theibcnetwork.org/
Online condolences may be left at www.jonesfuneralhomes.com

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Suzanne Marie Cole (McIlwee), please visit our Heartfelt Sympathies Store.