Patrick Charles Cole was born on June 18, 1953, in Kingston, the youngest of four children. His father, a Major in Canada’s Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, kept the family moving — and Pat grew up close to his siblings in the way that only shared upheaval can produce.
Pat was, above all else, a man who knew how to make a room feel alive. He was a natural storyteller, a devoted friend, and a dedicated joker — the kind of person who could turn any gathering into a memory worth telling later. He spent decades at Air Canada, where he led the de-icing team and developed a deep, genuine love of aviation that never left him.
On the side — because Pat was always running something on the side — he DJ’d as half of Cole and Spice, a duo he formed with his friend Steve Spice throughout the 70s and 80s. He also found time to race his DJ van at the local drag strip, a hobby that baffled his mechanic and delighted everyone who heard the story.
Flying never left his blood. He had his treasured Air Canada pass, which had a way of landing him in business class and beyond — and he shared it generously, giving his family wings to see the world the way he had. He loved nothing more than taking to the skies with his brother Ed or his dear friend Bob, and thought nothing finer than a private aircraft and good company.
Pat’s brother Ed was his oldest friend and, by his own account, his person. When Ed died young, Pat said it cut the legs out from under him — a loss he carried quietly and with grace for the rest of his life.
After his years at Air Canada, Pat drove dump trucks for a time. In retirement, he drove school buses — he said it was just to get himself out of the house. But the way he decorated his bus for every holiday, assembled seasonal candy bags for his students, and spoke about the kids on his route told a different story. Pat never had children of his own, yet his school bus years revealed a soft, deeply child-loving side that the people who knew him well were not entirely surprised by. By all accounts, those years were a genuine highlight.
Pat defied the odds in more ways than one. He overcame a gambling addiction — a fight he never minimised — though he kept his greatest win, a cheque for over $280,000, framed on the wall of his condo until the end. A reminder, perhaps, that sometimes you do beat the house.
He loved Chinese food, green jello, and Kick-Ass caramels. He loved lavish parties with his sister Cat. He loved visiting his sister Barb in Montreal. He loved telling stories — especially the ones that featured his brother Ed, and the crazy adventures they embarked on together.
Pat is survived by his nieces Melanie Cole and Kaila Krayewski, and his nephew Rod Smiley. He is reunited with his brother Ed and his beloved sisters Cat and Barb — and no doubt already telling a story they’ve all heard before.