Zora Dell Woolley Cole was the 4th daughter and the 7th child of Miner Lafayette Woolley, Sr. and Jennie Lou Bryan Woolley. She married Hugh Albert "Sandy" Cole, son of O. J. Cole and Eddie Bryn Cole, on Aug 5, 1944 in Los Angeles, CA, Los Angeles Co. Though they had no children of their own, together they raised several nieces and nephews.

Source of Obituary, Fort Bend Herald, dated Aug 24, 2005.

SERVICES SET FOR FIRST FEMALE DEPUTY SHERIFF
Lifelong Richmond resident and former Fort Bend County Districk Clerk Zora Dell Cole, 89, died Tuesday at her home.

Her father, M.L. Woolley, served two terms as county sheriff, from 1911 to 1914. A portion of that time, Cole served as her father's deputy, making her the county's first female deputy sheriff.

She worked for the county for more than 36 years, 18 as district clerk and 16 as office deputy under three sheriffs, including R.L. "Tiny" Gaston, who said Wednesday Cole will be missed by all who knew her.

"She was truly a nice lady, and real particular in her work," he said. "She was very active in different civic organizations, and was a member of first Baptist Church of Richmond, where she was a Sunday School teacher for years."

Gaston said Cole was also a 50-year member of the Order of the Eastern Star, and she and her family lived at the county jail (now Richmond Police Department) on Preston Street during her father's tenure as sheriff.

"That's what the sheriff's family did back then," said Gaston.

Cole was a member of the Fort Bend and Confederate museums, and served as her church's historian.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 49 years. H. A. "Sandy" Cole.

Visitation will take place from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday at Garmany & Carden Funeral Home in Rosenberg. Funeral services are scheduled for 10 a.m. Funeral at First Baptist Church in Richmond, with burial following in Richmond's historic Morton Cemetery.