A crowd gathered outside Sonoma Community Center on Friday night to remember artist, writer and father Dick Cole. His daughter Elizabeth Brooks and husband Jason flew in from Seattle to be at the impromptu ceremony, held at the center’s outdoor community altar.
Cole was 88 when he died last month on September 26. On Thursday, he was honored posthumously as the City of Sonoma’s Treasure Artist for 2016.
“Even though my dad had health issues he really had so much life in him,” his daughter said. “Has expecting to come home from the hospital and continue on with life.”
A native Californian, Cole spent 40 years in advertising, starting his career in New York City in the 1950s. He retired to Sonoma from his own firm in San Francisco in 1991.
“My dad was an original,” Brooks sais. “He was the Don Draper character on the TV series ‘Mad Men’ before there ever was that series. He lived it. In fact, he lived life to the fullest and loved it.”
He was married three times, lived on both coasts, traveled the world, and had many interests. “Yet,” Brooks said, “he really enjoyed painting. The Plein Air Association of Sonoma was among his favorites. We ask that if people donate in his name, to please support the Plein Air Association.”
Cole, a renowned watercolorist, was influential in the founding of Sonoma Plein Air. In announcing the Treasure Artist honor, Sonoma’s Cultural and Fine Arts Commission recognized his “dedication to the art education of students in Sonoma Valley and his serving as an inspiration to young and old artists alike.”
For friend Francie Ward, Friday’s gathering on what would have been Cole’s 89 birthday was a chance to, “honor raise a glass two, and allow joy to mix with your tears, as we celebrate that life goes on.
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