Commander Edward Fiscus Cole, Jr., USN, (RET.)

Commander Cole, who passed away December 20, 2025, was born on October 18, 1939 in Houston, Texas and reared in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, the hometown of his parents Edward Fiscus Cole and Carrie Sondles Cole. He graduated from Admiral Farragut Academy and Tufts University where he received his Navy commission from the NROTC Program in 1961.

He saw sea service in destroyers, minesweepers and amphibious ships in the Atlantic and Pacific fleets. During the Vietnam era he commanded the coastal minesweeper USS ALBATROSS with additional duty as Commander Mine Division THIRTY-ONE. Ashore, he served in the Bureau of Naval Personnel, completed the Admiral Staff Course of the German Armed Forces Command and Staff Academy in Hamburg, Germany and held various responsibilities in the Navy Human Resource Management System. His last assignment was as Watch Officer in the Command Center of the Commander Atlantic Command/Atlantic Fleet in Norfolk, Virginia.

Following retirement from the Navy in 1981, Commander Cole was the Director of Naval Science at Admiral Farragut Academy, Pine Beach, New Jersey and later managed the Rappahannock River Yacht Club in Irvington, Virginia until retiring to Nags Head, North Carolina in 1997. His wife of sixty-five years, Polly, their four children Rebecca C. Pyatt of Rock Hill, South Carolina; Kate C. Creef of Manteo, North Carolina; Jennifer C. Montague of Richmond, Virginia and Edward F. Cole, III of Richmond, Virginia; four granddaughters and three grandsons survive him.

Commander Cole’s preference for cremation with no services will be honored. Please express condolences at gallopfuneralservices.com