Occupation Businessman, Lawyer Resting place Rehoboth | Name Warren Cole Religion Christian | |
Born November 15, 1889 ( 1889-11-15 ) Swansea, Massachusetts Known for Founder Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity Children Irma Cole Pollard
Albert Warren Cole
Nathan Warren Cole Parent(s) Albert Warren Cole and Mary Horton Nichols Died December 29, 1968, Fall River, Massachusetts, United States Spouse Ethalyn Brayton (m. 1919), Lottie Hathaway (m. 1910) Education Boston University, Boston University School of Law, Brown University | ||
Organizations founded Lambda Chi Alpha | ||
Warren Albert Cole (15 November 1889 – 29 December 1968), born in Swansea, Massachusetts, was a successful businessman and lawyer and is known as the founder of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity.
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Education
Cole was the son of Albert Warren Cole and Mary Horton Nichols. He attended high school at B.M.C. Durfee High School where he graduated in 1908. While there, he was a member of Alpha Mu Chi, a fraternity that may have shaped his future views for a collegiate organization. After graduation, a year of work, and a few weeks as a student at Brown University, Cole entered the law school at Boston University in 1909, where he became a member of the Gamma Eta Gamma law school fraternity.
Lambda Chi Alpha
Cole was viewed as a congenial man, whose dogged persistence was, no doubt, the reason Lambda Chi Alpha succeeded. Cole started several fraternities that never caught on, including: The Lodge, Tombs, and Lambda Pi. After Lambda Pi he founded Lambda Chi Alpha, meaning "Loyal Collegiate Associates" before its name changed in 1912. Cole graduated from Boston University with a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1912. He then set about the work of continuing to build an international fraternity. Cole was one of the three founders of Lambda Chi Alpha when it started on November 2, 1909. In addition to holding Lambda Chi Alpha’s highest office, he was the administrative and traveling secretary, and the editor and treasurer of the Purple, Green, and Gold Magazine throughout World War I. During his tenure in office, the Fraternity grew to 53 functioning chapters. Cole resigned his membership in Lambda Chi Alpha during 1920 under allegations of financial irregularities and the alteration of official fraternity documents by other members of the fraternity's governing body. However, in 1957, he was reinstated as a member in good standing.
Personal life
Cole held many different jobs during his lifetime such as store owner, jewelry salesman, an assistant at the Brown University Student Union, member of the Massachusetts Highway Commission, insurance salesman, and as a Pinkerton detective. He was a member of the Loyal Order of Moose, a Grand Chancellor of the Rhode Island Knights of Pythias, a better than 50-year member of the Pioneer Masonic Lodge in Somerset, Massachusetts, and a member of the National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry.
He married twice during his lifetime. He married his first wife Lottie Mae Hathaway on September 13, 1910 and they lived in Boston, Massachusetts. They would have three children. He married Ethalyn Brayton Chace, on August 28, 1919, in Barrington, Rhode Island. Cole had three more children during his second marriage. His two sons Albert Warren Cole and Nathan Warren Cole, never became members of Lambda Chi Alpha.
Cole died on December 29, 1968 in Fall River, Massachusetts and was buried in a family plot at a cemetery in Rehoboth, Massachusetts in January 1969. His first wife Lottie is buried with him.
A future historic marker is planned for Swansea, Massachusetts to commemorate Cole.