Linden Cole, age 91, a resident of Wheaton, IL passed away on September 29, 2024 after a brief struggle with covid-19.

He was born on July 23, 1933, in Portland, Oregon, to Frank and Genevieve Cole, long-time members of First Friends Church, an evangelical Friends Church (Quaker). He participated in Christian Endeavor during high school days, among other things.

He was recruited by Harvard University, where he majored in Mathematics and graduated cum laude in 1955. He was very active in the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship there. Upon graduation, he decided to train to be an actuary, and started with a life insurance company in Newark, New Jersey.

As a conscientious objector to military service, he was accepted to teach Mathematics and English at the Christian Training Institute in Sialkot, Pakistan, a missionary high school of the United Presbyterian Church, in lieu of military service. This started in September 1956, and lasted two years. During vacations, he travelled extensively in India, and twice in Afghanistan, meeting missionaries along the way.

Back in Newark, in the fall of 1958, he settled in to his job. He attended the Gospel Tabernacle Church in New York (Christian and Missionary Alliance). He and his wife Jane met through an InterVarsity alumni group, and were married by their New York minister in the North Reformed Church in Newark.

Catherine, their daughter, was born while they lived in Newark, but a couple of years later, they moved to Montclair, New Jersey, where they bought a house and settled in.

Linden, however, was later drawn in the direction of a different kind of work, and signed on with the Society of Actuaries, located in the Chicago area. The family moved to Wheaton, IL. Most of his work related to their continuing education program for actuaries. Before his retirement and in a volunteer capacity for many years afterwards, Linden was especially committed to developing and teaching courses in actuarial ethics.

In Wheaton, Linden remained active in church circles, particularly through his long membership at Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Warrenville, where he served as Business Manager and Treasurer over the years. Even when circumstances made it impossible to attend in person, watching Sunday services online was something he eagerly anticipated each week.

Linden experienced dementia in the last years of his life, but always kept his delightful sense of humor, love of trains and baseball, spirit of adventure, gentle kindness, and Christian faith. He is survived by his wife Jane, daughter Catherine, son-in-law Michael, sister-in-law Jan, and many nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be held at 3:00 PM on Saturday, October 12, 2024, at Hultgren Funeral Home, located at 304 N Main St. in Wheaton, IL.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Linden's memory can be made to Immanuel Presbyterian Church , to The Nature Conservancy , or to organizations funding dementia research such as the Alzheimer's Association .