John Thomas Cole, age eighty-seven, of Ventura, California, passed away on March 29, 2021 at his home. John was born in Dublin, Ireland on April 24, 1934. He left home at age fifteen emigrating to England, Canada, Hawaii, and finally the continental United States.
John had a lifelong love for soccer, a passion he shared with his family and the community. He was a founding member of the first youth soccer league of Ventura County (AYSO Region 39), and volunteered to coach, referee, mark fields, and he built the original soccer goals at Buena High School which remained in use for over twenty years. He worked as a skilled pipefitter, plumber, welder, and craftsman with UA Local 484. He proudly worked on jobs including St. John’s Hospital, the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, the Vandenberg Space Shuttle facility, and the Santa Barbara desalination plant. In his retirement John enjoyed traveling extensively with his wife to locations such as Australia, the Cape Horn, Machu Pichu, Antarctica, and the Amazon River. He was a passionate reader of literature and history and had a lifelong love of music, all of which he passed on to his children and grandchildren.
John is survived by his wife of fifty-nine years, Jaqueline. His sons Sean and Michael, daughter-in-law Gina, grandchildren Keegan and McKenna, and his cat Smokey.
Family and friends are invited to a Mass of Christian Burial at 10:00 am on Friday, April 9, 2021 at the San Buenaventura Mission, Ventura.
Arrangements are under the direction of the JOSEPH P. REARDON FUNERAL HOME & CREMATION SERVICE, Ventura.