Dr. Albert Benjamin Cole Jan. 14, 1915 - June 18, 2010

Dr. Albert Benjamin Cole, 95, of Corona del Mar, passed away June 18, 2010. Albert was born in Toronto on Jan. 14, 1915.

He graduated from the University of Toronto in 1938 with a degree in Medicine. After enlisting and being trained as a paratrooper in Canada, he served in the British Royal Army Medical Corps, landing in Normandy and providing medical care near the front lines. He was wounded during a battle known as the Falaise Pocket.

After the war, he qualified in radiology and in 1955 married the love of his life, Hilda Irene Worth. Hilda and Albert settled in California, where their only child, Dara Lee, was born. Albert was on duty when South Coast Community Hospital, as it was then known, first opened in South Laguna in 1959. He was one of the founding doctors of a radiology practice that went on to serve several hospitals and medical centres in the area.

In 1974, Albert was admitted to the American Board of Nuclear Medicine. He continued to enthusiastically embrace the continuation of his medical knowledge even into his retirement years, was an avid reader, completed a crossword puzzle every day, and of course loved his golf. In fact, at the age of 90 he still played golf three times a week, bravely in the “dawn brigade” at the Newport Beach Country Club.

Albert was preceded in death by his wife, Hilda, and brothers Melville and Sydney. Surviving Albert are his daughter Dara Fraser, son-in-law Ian Fraser, grandchildren Alana, Robert and Rebecca Fraser all of Sydney, Australia.