Max Kenneth Cole Sr.

Max Kenneth Cole, 91 years of Mt. Orab, passed away on Friday, February 7, 2025, surrounded by his loved ones. Originally from Winton Terrace, Max graduated from Hughes High School before marrying his high school sweetheart, Jeanne Penwell, and settling down in Finneytown. Max worked for Ford Motor Company for a few years before he began his 30-year career at P&G, starting at Ivorydale. He later moved to the cake division as the production manager and by the time he retired he was hosting seminars and recruitment meetings at local colleges.

A man of God, Max would begin every day in prayer and found solace in reading the Bible. After retirement, Max began to minister full time. He started the House of Worship, which initially met in a school, until they broke ground on the church in 2003. He continued to lead the church ministry for about 20 years. Max was honored to perform the marriage ceremony for many of his grandchildren.

An avid baseball player during high school, Max tried out for the Cincinnati Reds shortly after graduation. While he didn’t make it into the major leagues, he was a strong player for both the Ford and P&G teams. Max and Jeanne’s desire for more land came true in 1974 when they purchased 11 acres in Mt. Orab. The first thing Max did was create a vegetable garden full of squash, tomatoes, corn, carrots, potatoes and other vegetables that Jeanne froze or canned every summer. Max also loved to fish. He took several trips with his son-in-law Tom, his brother Fred, nephew Fred Jr. and grandsons Kenny, Max, Patrick and Parker to Island 10 Fishing Retreat in Canada. Easy to talk to, Max always wanted to know the “other side of the story” before he would offer his thoughts. But that was Max, always considerate of everyone and very giving to all that he encountered.

Max will be deeply missed by his children Debbie (Tom) Becknell and Max Kenneth Jr. (Donita) Cole; grandchildren Heidi (Chris) Wolf, Patrick (Nicole) Becknell, Natasha (Joey) Gadzala, Jennifer (Derrick) Motley, Kenny (the late Maggie) Becknell, Max Kenneth III (Jackie) Cole; 14 great grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.  He is preceded in death by Jeanne, his wife of 73 years; parents Carl and Ina (McKee) Cole; siblings Romayne Cole, Restle (Dave) Dunsmore, Rev (Doris) Cole, and Fred (Faye) Cole.

Services honoring Max will be held on Friday, February 14, 2025, at the Arlington Memorial Gardens Lakeside Chapel, 2145 Compton Road, 45231. Visitation 11:00 AM – 12:15 PM. Service 12:15 PM – 1:00 PM with burial immediately following in the Garden of 23^rd Psalm.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Maggie Baumann Scholarship Fund by clicking on this link https://www.chaoc.org/donate/. Please indicate that your gift is in Maggie’s memory, and we will ensure it is directed to this campaign.