Daphne Olive Cole

On July 26, 1943, Maxwell and Jessie Batten of Clarke’s Beach, NL, welcomed their firstborn, Daphne Olive, into their home. She was the first of 10 siblings. As a child, Daphne attended The Salvation Army, and at 7 years of age, accepted Jesus as her Saviour. Early into her teens, she had dreams of becoming a Salvation Army Officer-Nurse, and serve in Africa. Upon graduation from High School, in 1961, she entered The Salvation Army Training College in St, John’s, and after a year training, was appointed to the Grace Hospital to train as a nurse, and graduated with honours in 1965. A year later, Captain Batten married Lt. Orville Cole, and returned with him to his first appointment at Seal Cove, White Bay, NL.

A year later, the couple was transferred to Glovertown, but in August, because of a teacher vacancy, were again on the move to Garnish, where Captain Cole was the Officer-teacher, and Daphne assisted in the Corps ministry. On July 5,1968, they welcomed their first child, Coralee, into their home, 6 weeks later left Newfoundland to drive across Canada to BC North, where they were appointed as Corps Officers, with Orville teaching in the one-room school and Daphne serving as the village nurse at Gitwinksihlkw (Canyon City), a village of 13 families on the northern shore of the mighty Nass River. This turned out to be a truly missionary appointment. In July 1970, they were on the move again, to Gander NL, where the following July their son, Peter was born.

Subsequent transfers within The Salvation Army saw them serving in Saint John, NB; Broadview Village (Toronto), Public Relations in Toronto, Corps Officers at Chatham, PR in Thunder Bay, the Red Shield Services in Germany, PR. In St.John’s, NL, then Corps Officers at London, ON, MUN Chaplain and SAMF secretary at St. John’s, then to Yorkminster Corps in Toronto, from which they retired in 1999, due to Daphne’s declining health.

Over the years, in addition to Corps Ministry, Daphne served as Girl Guide Captain in Thunder, then District Commissioner in Germany, as well as using her nursing skills in various Salvation Army settings, including Camp Nurse at various S.A. Camps in ON and NL, and at Glenbrook Lodge in St.John’s, as well as at the nursing clinic in Guatemala.

After a long battle with Syringomyelia, a spinal cord disorder, which gradually robbed her of her motor skills, and in recent months, with the onset of Alzheimer’s disease, she was Promoted to Glory on March 6, 2019. She is predeceased by her parents, her infant brother, Melvin, and in 2009, her young brother, Eric. She is affectionately remembered by her other 7 siblings, her loving husband, Orville, her children, Coralee & Peter, and her grand-children, Kaitlyn and Nathan Collingwood, but Daphne is now released from her imprisonment in a diseased mortal body, and is sharing the delights of Heaven with her Lord, and family members who have welcomed her Home! Hallelujah!