For DeLand artist Irene B. Cola her spouse and children came first
March 22nd, 2008, 8:38 pm Hobby Shops
“She was very creative,” said daughter Barbara Flowers of DeLand. “A lot of the ceramics in our home were things that she made.” She added that her mom was a very loving person who always put family first. “She loved my father deeply — I can’t tell you the love between those two,” she said. “Her family was very important to her.” After Cola’s own daughters left, she and her husband began taking foster kids, eventually caring for nearly 30 such children, according to daughter Cindi Furse of DeLand. “She touched so many people,” Furse said. “You read in the paper all the time how these kids have no place to go — she just wanted to help these kids.” Often, the couple would take the children with them on summer vacations to their cabin in North Carolina. “That was a big love of hers,” said Flowers. “We would all go up and it was a big family gathering.” Furse said faith was one of the driving forces in her mother’s life. A member of St. Peter Catholic Church in DeLand for 52 years, Cola was a Eucharistic minister and member of the Women of the Knights of Columbus. She coached softball at the church school and also visited regularly with sick parishioners in the hospital. “She was strong in her faith,” said Furse. “She’s my hero for everything she’s done.” Cola is also survived by daughter Sandra Smith, DeLand; brother, Daniel Davis, Long Island, N.Y.; uncle, Edward Kuhn, DeLand; 16 grandchildren and six great- grandchildren. Lankford Funeral Home, DeLand, is handling arrangements. Steven D. Barnes can be reached at sbarnes@orlandosentinel.com or 386-851-7911.
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