PORTLAND — Nelson G. Cole, 73, a lifelong resident of Casco, died with his loving family by his side on Thursday morning, Jan. 2, 2020, at Seaside Healthcare in Portland.

He was born on Sept. 24, 1946, in Portland, son of Philip G. and Bessie May (Joy) Cole and raised in what was the Casco Inn in Casco Village. He attended local schools and was a member of one of the last graduating Casco High School classes in 1964. That same year, Nelson led the boys’ basketball team to the only state championship in school history.

Nelson went on to attend the University of Maine at Orono, later transferring to Bentley College in Massachusetts, earning a degree in Accounting.

He fostered his love of numbers by working his entire career in finance and accounting. For many of those years he remained locally-employed by Hancock Lumber and P&K Sand & Gravel, but also spent time working with a dear friend, Ralph Sama, at Home Construction & Finance.

Nelson served on the local School Board as a young man, but primarily chose to stay out of the limelight and humbly serve his community. He was a passionately loyal friend and loving son, brother, husband, father, grandfather, cousin, and uncle. He loved a good book and was so voracious with his reading that he kept a log of the novels he has read. His love of literature contributed to his passion for tracing his ancestry, and he was astonished to discover that he could trail the lineage to a Mayflower passenger Francis Eaton.

He is survived by his wife, Jacqueline “Jackie” (Whitman) of Casco, whom he married in 1975, at the Trinity Episcopal Church in Portland; children, Jeffrey L. Cole of Arleta, Calif., Diane M. (Cole) Ziliak of Evansville, Ind., Nathan G. Cole and his wife, Janet, of Lansdale, Penn., and Brian S. Cole and his wife, Michelle, of Casco; eight grandchildren, Thomas, Karlee, Samuel, Benjamin, Allison, Andrew, Caleb, and Ava; brother, Charles Cole and his wife, Diane, of Fredericksburg, Tex.; sister, Joy (Cole) Buzzell and her husband, Gary, of Greene, Maine; and cousins, nieces, and nephews. He was predeceased by his father, Phil (2011), mother, Bessie May (1991), and his first wife, Stephanie J. (Fogg) Cole (1974).

Services for Nelson were held privately. Gifts may be given in his memory to Casco Fire & Rescue, 635 Meadow Rd., Casco, ME 04015, or the Casco Public Library, P.O. Box 420, Casco, ME 04015.  Arrangements are in the care of Hall Funeral Home, 165 Quaker Ridge Rd., Casco.

Condolences, tributes and kind words may be left for Nelson’s family and friends at www.hallfuneralhome.net