Merline "Ruthie" Cole, 70 of 4515 Ozark Street NE, died Sunday, June 25 at St. Lukes Hospital.  Services will be 11:00 a.m. Saturday, July 1, 2006 at Gospel Tabernacle Church, with Rev. Rufus Johnson of Fellowship Baptist Church presiding.   Burial will follow in Linwood Cemetery.  Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday at Brosh Chapel in Cedar Rapids.

Ruthie was born August 3, 1935 in Paris, Tennessee the daughter of Roger Wilkins and Willa Mae Brown.  She married Flenoid Cole June 9, 1973 in Rock Island, Illinois.  Merline graduated from Mt. Mercy College with a BA degree in Criminal Justice.  She worked for many years as a heavy equipment inspector for FMC Linkbelt.  She worked as a counselor for both ASAC (Area Substance Abuse Council), and then for Four Oaks until her retirement.

Ruthie is survived by her sons, Bernard Taylor of Tyler, Texas, Michael (Kathy) Cole of Cedar Rapids; daughters Janet (Harrison) Robinson of Harvey, Illinois, Joyce Ann Taylor of Dubuque, and Donna Adams of Cedar Rapids; and a special friend Dwayne (Carol) Daniels of Cedar Rapids; grandchildren Michael Flenoid "Boonie", Ebony, Trina, Michael Lance, Travis Michael, Tamera, Tonya, and Teryn;  thirteen greatgrandchildren brothers Marvin Wilkins and Walter Cowan both of Paris, Tennessee; and sisters Gladys Long of Paris, Tennessee, and Velma Reid of Detroit, Michigan, as well as a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

She is preceded in death by her parents, and her husband Flenoid who died February 28, 2006.

Memorials may be directed to the American Lung Association.