PORTLAND — John Denison Cole, 83, died peacefully Friday, Oct. 27, after a short illness.

John was born in St. Louis, Mo., on July 13, 1934, the second of three sons to Sanford Henry and Louise Moffett Cole. He graduated from Littleton High School in New Hampshire and attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston before joining the U.S. Navy in 1953. John served four years on the USS Saratoga, then attended the University of New Hampshire, where he obtained a B.A. in English literature.

In 1957, he married Helen O’Rourke of Boston, with whom he had two sons, John Denison Cole III and Lawrence Sanford Cole. John taught English for several years at the Hinckley School in Fairfield and Thomas College in Waterville. He married his second wife, Janet Atwood, in 1977, and they shared over 40 years together up until the time of his passing.

John took an interest in drawing and painting at an early age and became an accomplished painter, sculptor, woodworker and writer in his adult life. He earned a master’s degree at the Breadloaf School of English at Middlebury College and in 1980, after years of painting portraits and still lifes in oils as a hobby, he turned his attention to woodcarving and started his own custom carved sign business, Wooden-O. He later returned to teaching at Franklin Academy in Sabattus and wrote fiction based on his teenage years in the late 1940s and early ’50s in Littleton, N.H.

After retirement John returned to oil painting as a hobby and for the enjoyment of his family and friends. He became fascinated by the account of the 1990 heist of the Isabella Gardner Museum in Boston, and his research on the robbery prompted him to focus on reproducing certain stolen works by Vermeer and Rembrandt, as well as paintings by Mary Cassatt and John Singer Sargent, which remain on display at the Gardner to this day.

John possessed a love of music which continued throughout his entire life, and he and his wife, Janet, enjoyed countless live performances of classical, swing jazz, musicals and folk music. He encouraged his children, stepchildren and grandchildren to better themselves through the pursuit of knowledge and exposure to the arts, and was always delighted to learn new things from them as well.

John was predeceased by his older brother, Sanford (Sandy).

He is survived by his wife, Janet A Cole of Portland; his son, John D. Cole III and wife, Meg and their six children, of Durham; his son, Lawrence S. Cole and wife, Natsuko and their two children, of Louisville, Ky.; his stepson, Eric Drew and his wife, Deborah and their son, of Portland; his stepdaughter, Stacia Drew and her husband, Steve Traficonte and their two children, of Cumberland; his brother, Peter and his wife, Judy and their two children, of Wolfeboro, N.H.

You may offer your condolences or share your stories at www.jonesrichandbarnes.com.

John Denison Cole

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