Ira Margaret-Rose Cole, nee DeFour, died at her home in Mississauga on Friday June 25 last after a long battle with cancer. She was 81.

Her daughter, Giselle, told the Caribbean Camera that education was more than a career for her mother. “It was her calling,” she said.

Ira taught at Notre Dame Catholic High School in Toronto where she eventually became Head of the Business Department.

“Her dedication to the profession and her students led her back to school at Niagara University where she obtained her Master’s in Counselling,” said Giselle.

“After 34 years, she finished her service with Notre Dame as head of the guidance department,”

Ira was born in San Juan, Trinidad and attended St. Joseph’s Convent School in St. Joseph, in Trinidad.

In 1962, she, her husband, Samuel, and their first child, Giselle, came to Canada.

She then went on to further her studies and obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Toronto.

Ira was active in several community organizations, including the Caribana Cultural Committee, the Trinidad and Tobago Association of Ontario, the Congress of Black Women and Peel Fountains of Wisdom Senior Services.

She leaves her husband, Samuel, daughters Giselle and Michelle, son Samuel Cole Jr. her loving grandchildren Isiah, Tristan, Travaris, Isabella, Tiara, and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.

A funeral service for the late Ira Margaret-Rose Cole was held last Saturday at Sts. Martha and Mary Roman Catholic church in Mississauga.