James Robert Cole

James Robert Cole was a carpenter, a deacon, and a man who measured twice. He was born in Richmond in 1952 and spent most of his working years on job sites around the Fan and Church Hill, teaching apprentices to keep their tools sharp and their word better. He married Patricia Cole in 1976. They filled a brick house with two sons, a radio that stayed on the ballgame, and a porch that never lacked an extra chair. James served his church quietly, repaired more porches than he billed, and fished the James River whenever the weather and his knees agreed. Those who worked beside him remember a dry joke, a fair wage, and a refusal to leave a job unfinished. He died in Richmond in July 2026, leaving the kind of good work that still stands.