05/12/2026
Sadly, we’ve lost another treasured classmate. Lee Atkinson provided the following to me:
Cole Erskine died end of April...those of you who knew him barreling down the football field on special teams, or watched his intensity during a calculus test, would understand how Cole spent the rest of his life. His grandmother gave him some money at graduation--he bought a blue box he called a computer and from there, his brillance took over...honestly, kick starting a major industry that made Texas Instruments billions, then to Boston, Austin, Phoenix, then finally the Bay Area where he fought hard, gambled big, and sold a couple small software companies. Cole's greatest luck was his wife Beth, who kept him together and taught him how to love. Cole lived life passionately, he was fearless. Thank God for such a life, such a friend.
