SuzAnne Chapman Cole

SuzAnne Chapman Cole, age 85, a woman of curiosity, creativity, and devotion to family, books, and the life of the mind, passed away on September 5, 2026 at Eden Hill in New Braunfels, Texas, with her family at her side. Her death from complications of Alzheimer’s disease followed a long and loving goodbye.

She was preceded in death by her parents, June and Myrl Chapman; her beloved brother Mike and sister Connie. She is survived by Doy Cole, her faithful husband and partner of more than 67 years; their sons, Brad, Wes and Mike; their wives, Holly, Iulia, and Kassity; and eight grandchildren: Sasha, Ripley, Mitya, Elizan Louise, Henry, Eion, Max and Madison Suzanne.

Born in Wichita, Kansas, in August 1941, SuzAnne grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She attended Will Rogers High School and the University of Tulsa, where she met Doy in 1959. They married on June 29, 1963, at Sharp Memorial Chapel on the university campus, beginning a partnership that would carry them through more than six decades of family life, travel, work and adventure.

SuzAnne earned a B.A. in English from the University of Tulsa in 1962 and attended Stanford University as a Woodrow Wilson Fellow (one of the nation's premier academic honors in the 20th century), earning her M.A. in English Literature in 1964.

SuzAnne possessed an alert and inquisitive mind and was always ready to challenge convention. A strong advocate for literacy, she believed that a teacher should respect her students, remain a student herself, and “write, write, write.” During more than 20 years at Houston Community College, she taught composition and literature, created The Bible as Literature course and courses on female writers, developed curricula, trained teachers, and co-authored several English textbooks, including Reading and Responding to Literature.

She was recognized as English Teacher of the Year at Houston Community College, received the Southwest Regional Conference on English Teaching Excellence Award, and was designated a Master Teacher.

The town of New Braunfels, which began as SuzAnne and Doy's family vacation refuge in 1973, became their permanent home in 2005 on completion of their Trophy Lane house. It provided a joyful gathering place for the family, along with a studio where SuzAnne could pursue her second career as a writer. She and Doy traveled to and hiked in more than 40 countries from the Canadian Rockies, Iceland, China, and Nepal to Peru, Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, Ireland, Argentina, and Russia.

Her more than 400 published works appeared in Newsweek, the Baltimore Sun, the Houston Chronicle, the San Antonio Express-News and a variety of anthologies and literary journals. She was a juried and featured poet at the Houston Poetry Fest, won a haiku contest at Japan’s Suruga-Baika Literary Festival, and received Pushcart Prize nominations for both poetry and fiction. Her book To Our Hearts’ Content: Meditations for Women Turning Fifty was published in 1997.

In New Braunfels SuzAnne served the City’s Library Advisory Board, Friends of the Library, and New Braunfels Public Library Foundation, including a tenure as president. She established the Library Endowment Fund and supported the Book and Author Luncheon, two RIOmobile outreach vehicles, and the Westside Library. She even worked in the library bookstore—although she hated the accounting.

She held a deep gratitude for the overwhelming kindness and care she received from her friends and the staff at Eden Hill where she served on the Board of Directors and moved to with Doy in 2020.

For all of her accolades, accomplishments and service, SuzAnne found no greater calling than that of a grandmother to her eight grandchildren. She embraced every part of grandmother-hood from the day to day to her encouragement of imaginative fun and play with costumes, story times, sand land, a playroom full of toys, playgrounds, and memorable road trips and adventures with grandchildren.

According to her wishes, a Celebration of Life will be held at Eden Hill Chapel at 10 AM on Saturday, October 10 followed by a reception at Eden Hill. She will be laid to rest at Comal Cemetery, near the Guadalupe River and her beloved library in a family ceremony.

Following Doy’s weekly custom, flowers will be provided by the family. Memorial donations may be made to the Friends of the New Braunfels Public Library Endowment Fund, the Eden Hill Employee Appreciation Fund, or the BrightFocus Foundation for Alzheimer’s disease research.

Her family finds comfort in knowing that her journey with Alzheimer’s has come to an end and rejoices that she is now at peace with her God. Her legacy lives in her family, her students, the library she strengthened, and the words and images she left behind—a life of curiosity, creativity, love, and close attention to the world.