Elaine Anne Reichman Cole was born in Columbia, Missouri and spent her childhood in Kansas City going to Hale Cook Elementary and Bingham Junior High School. She was a graduate of Parkway South High School in 1978 and the University of Missouri at Columbia in 1982. She was a member of Pi Beta Phi Sorority at MU and a graduate of the School of Education receiving a Life Teaching Certificate. She met her future husband Jeffrey Cole while at the University of Missouri and they were married in 1983.
She worked as a substitute teacher for Columbia Public Schools after finishing college until her divorce from Jeffrey Cole in 1991. Elaine then pursued her interests in retail and had successful management tenures at both Dillard’s and Barnes & Noble in Columbia before moving back to Kansas City in 2013 to be closer with family. In Kansas City, Elaine worked at Yankee Candle, Macy’s, and most recently Von Maur. Elaine had a great love and appreciation for the Native American arts and the American Southwest.
Surviving her is her father George T. Reichman, Sr. and her four brothers of Brad, Mark, George, and Dan & his wife Kelly & nephews Jack, Harrison and niece Lillian Agnes who all reside in the Kansas City area. Preceding her in death was her mother Travis Daniel Reichman who passed away in 2013.
Memorials may be made either to the Millicent Rogers Museum at P.O. Box 1210, Taos, New Mexico 8751 https://www.millicentrogers.org/products/donate/ or at the Heard Museum at 2301 N. Central, Phoenix, AZ 85004 https://heard.org/make-a-donation/
A memorial visitation will be held 5 - 7:30 pm on Thursday, December 12, 2024 at the McGilley State Line Chapel, 12301 State Line Road, Kansas City, MO 64145.
