Jewell Wayne Cole

Jewell Wayne Cole, 92, died in Georgetown, Kentucky, on February 2, 2025.

Born in Robertson County, Kentucky on March 29, 1932, to Willie Lee and Alberta Osborn Cole, Jewell discovered a talent for trading livestock early on and became a full-time cattle buyer after graduating high school. For nearly three-quarters of a century, he bought and sold cattle, earning a reputation not only for his knowledge of the beef industry but also for his honesty, integrity, and fair dealing. An oft-told family story focused on twelve-year-old Jewell, recently hired to work in the stockyards in Mount Olivet, Kentucky, realizing he could trade eggs for a profit simply by transporting them from one side of town to the other.  He parlayed that attention to detail and head for numbers into a first job buying cattle for a dealer in Maysville, Kentucky.  In 1950, his order-buying career was interrupted by a stint in the U.S. Air Force, where he was stationed at a weather station in Alaska near the Arctic Circle. There he developed what would become a lifelong interest in weather observation and forecasting.  Once his service to his country was complete, he returned to order buying and traveled the country attending cattle sales across the southeastern United States, into the Midwest, and as far away as Missoula, Montana.  He eventually returned to become a partner in an order-buying business in Maysville, marrying Lenore Rideout in 1957 and eventually welcoming three children, Greg, Gretchen, and Stephanie.  In 1962, the family moved to Lexington, and he remained in Central Kentucky for the rest of his life.  In 1973, he bought a farm in northern Fayette County and added cattle breeding to his skill set. For a number of years, he was one of the foremost breeders of Limousin cattle in the state. In 1982, he joined S&B Cattle Company as a buyer where he worked for over four decades, retiring only with his last illness, in his 92nd year.  When he took rare time away from his work, he loved to travel, especially in the US West. Long car trips to Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, and points in between with his second wife, Patsy “Pat” Laughlin Cole, were highlights of his later years.

Jewell was preceded in death by his wife, his parents, his sister Rosa, his brother Don, and his grandson (Wyatt Cole). He is survived by his sister Helen, son Greg (Isabella), daughter Gretchen (Mark), and daughter Stephanie (Gregg); grandchildren Anna Roys and Robert Domalewski, Quinn Cole, and Farley and Emily Morris.

A celebration of life will be held on March 29, 2025, on what would have been Jewell’s 93rd birthday, at the Hicks family home, 401 South Winter Street in Midway, Kentucky, between 2:00 and 5:00 p.m.  In lieu of flowers, please send memorials to the Wyatt Cole Memorial Scholarship Fund , 245 Eden Shale Rd. Owenton, KY 40359, or to a local charity of your choice.