MINNEAPOLIS, MN (January 8, 2007) \u2013 Visitation will be observed this evening and again tomorrow for retired Covenant minister Adele (Oberg) Cole, who died January 5 at North Memorial Medical Center.<\/p>\n
The visitation will be from 7 to 9 p.m. this evening at Covenant Village of Golden Valley and at 10 a.m. tomorrow (Tuesday) at Bethlehem Covenant Church in Minneapolis, where a memorial service will follow at 11 a.m.<\/p>\n
Rev. Cole, 81, ordained in 1979, was one of the first women to be ordained in the Evangelical Covenant Church. She had received her license in 1976, the year the denomination began ordaining women.<\/p>\n
She served as a hospital and hospice chaplain until retiring in 1989 to Covenant Village of Golden Valley (Minnesota), where she and husband, John, continued to live. Most recently, Cole authored devotions for Dec. 21-30, 2006, in The Covenant Home Altar. She once described her gift in ministry to be \u201cshowing mercy with cheerfulness,\u201d and said that, \u201cSeeing growth in others as they find new life in Christ is the ultimate.\u201d<\/p>\n
She was born April 17, 1925 in Minneapolis. She and her husband celebrated their 60th anniversary last March 22. He survives as do five children.<\/p>\n
Cole earned both her bachelor\u2019s degree in social service (1974) and master\u2019s degree in human development (1975) from Governors State University, in University Park, Illinois. She also attended United Theological Seminary and North Park Seminary.<\/p>\n
Covenant News Service will publish more information as it becomes available.<\/p>\n