Thursday, October 1, 2026
Frederick Peters Cole, a former trustee of the Village of Rockville Centre, died on Sunday, Feb. 22 at Rappahannock General Hospital, Kilmarnock, Va. at the age of 89.
Born in New York City, Cole’s family moved to Rockville Centre in 1927, and it was where he lived until he and his wife, Carol, retired to Virginia in 1990.
Cole graduated from Oceanside High School, and then the University of Virginia with a degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1950. After graduation, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S Marine Corps. He served as an engineering officer and received an honorable discharge at the rank of Captain.
After returning to Rockville Centre, he worked for Grumman Aircraft for several years before joining SunarHauserman, a leading manufacturer of steel interior wall panels and systems, as a sales engineer. He worked for 32 years in the New York office and was responsible for several major accounts, including Mobil Oil, Citi Bank, AIG and the United Nations.
Cole was extremely active in his community. After serving on both the Planning Board and the Zoning Board, he was elected to the Board of Trustees of the Village of Rockville Centre in 1969 and served in that capacity until 1981.
During his time as trustee, Cole served as the chairman of the Economic Opportunity Council, the village’s first Earth Day, the Recycling Committee, and led the village’s celebration of the nation’s Bicentennial in 1975. He was also the liaison between the police department and the Architectural Review Board, and also chaired the renovation of Village Hall. He also served as the president of the South Side Civic Association.
A local history buff, Cole was happy to lead the village’s Bicentennial celebration. “He had a lot of fun with all of the things that we did,” said Catherine Pucciarelli, who served on the Village Board with Cole from 1975-79. That year, she said, as part of the celebration, there was a reenactment of the Skirmish at DeMott’s Mill — the first Revolutionary War battle to be fought on Long Island.
“I remember Fred’s face,” Pucciarelli said. “He was beaming the whole day. He was so happy with everything that went on.”
