January 9, 1926 – December 21, 2024
Paul Selim Coole, 98, died peacefully in his sleep on Saturday, December 21, 2024 at Forest Springs Health Campus in Louisville, KY.
Paul was born January 9, 1926, in Boston, Massachusetts, to Douglas Paul Coole and Mamie (Polly) Selim Coole, United Methodist Missionaries. His early life was spent in Malaya, China, and in India, where he attended Woodstock High School. In 1944 he returned to Baldwin City, Kansas, to attend Baker University. He graduated in 1948 with a B.A. in Math and Education. He was a reporter for Dunn and Bradstreet in Kansas City and Oklahoma City for 9 years. He taught for the Shawnee Mission Public Schools for 22 years, and the Kansas State School for the Blind for 9 years. Countless students claimed him as a favorite teacher.
In Kansas City he was President of the Fifth Ward Republican Club. At Lenexa United Methodist Church he served in many roles such as President of the Offical Board and United Methodist Men and Lay Member to Annual Conference for 32 years. Twice he was elected to Jurisdictional Conference, where he served as Certified Lay Speaker. He visited prisoners for 4 years through Men to Men. He volunteered at Crosslines Cooperative Council as Director of Homework Study Help where he met Patricia Marie Queen. They were married in 1970, and lived in Lenexa, KS until they moved to Kentucky for Paul’s final three years.
Paul was a talker, known for his indefatigable storytelling. He engaged with everyone he met, and strangers were just friends he was yet to get to know. He was always eager to learn your story. He was a lover of words and passed that on to his kids, even reading the dictionary aloud together for fun! Exceptionally young at heart, he was a devoted, playful, and involved father. He was always up for the next adventure or hobby, such as developing photos in his own darkroom. As he aged, he shifted from woodworking to cardboard creations and finally to paper-folding, always finding ways to engage his creativity and share his creations with loved ones. He was an avid cook, relentlessly baking bread, canning jams, and making new culinary creations. He loved the sea and sailing, after crossing the ocean many times in his early years.
He is survived by his wife Pat, brother Tom, daughter Cindy (Alan) Coffman, sons, Douglas (Carol Ramirez) Coole and Jon (Miranda) Coole, and niece Tammy Coole (daughter of deceased brother Andrew), grandchildren Christie, Amy, Molly, Mia, Brandon, and Maggie, and great-grandchildren Norah, Liam, Bethany, Corban, and Derek. His parents died in 1979 and 1993.
A memorial service will be held at the Forest Springs Clubhouse, 4111 Wooded Acre Ln., Louisville, KY, at 3:00 on Sunday 12/29/24. Another memorial service will be held at Lenexa United Methodist Church, (9138 Caenan Lake Rd., Lenexa, KS) at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, 1/3/25. Attendees are invited to share stories about Paul!
Memorial contributions may be made to Lenexa United Methodist Church.
