Joseph Edmund Cole (January 4, 1914 – January 8, 1995) was an American businessman. He was founder of Cole National Corp. and the final publisher of the ''

Cleveland Press The ''Cleveland Press'' was a daily American newspaper published in Cleveland, Ohio from November 2, 1878, through June 17, 1982. From 1928 to 1966, the paper's editor was Louis B. Seltzer. Known for many years as one of the country's most in ...

'' newspaper, as well as part-owner of the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

major league baseball team.

Business career

Cole was born January 4, 1914, in Cleveland, Ohio. He began his career in 1926 working for the National Key Company in Cleveland. After working for the company for seven years, he left to establish a retail

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

division of Curtis Industries, building it into the country's second-largest key company, after National Key. In 1950, Cole purchased National Key as well as Curtis's key business, becoming the largest key retail business in the United States. As the company grew, diversifying into such areas as

car dealership A car dealership, or car dealer, is a business that sells new or used cars, at the retail level, based on a dealership contract with an automaker or its sales subsidiary. Car dealerships also often sell spare parts and automotive maintena ...

s, the

Things Remembered Things Remembered is an e-commerce retailer specializing in personalized gifts, messaging and engraving. History Things Remembered was founded as "Can Do" in 1967 as a subsidiary of Cole National Corporation by Joseph Edmund Cole. At the time Col ...

gift shop, and the Original Cookie Company, it was renamed Cole National Corp. In the 1950s, Cole became a minority owner of the

(now "Guardians") baseball team; he twice attempted to purchase the team in its entirety, but was unsuccessful. In 1980, Cole purchased the struggling ''

'' newspaper. He expanded the paper's publication to seven days, adding a Sunday edition, but ultimately the newspaper ceased publication in 1982.

Political activity

Cole was active in the

U.S. Democratic Party The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States. Founded in 1828, it was predominantly built by Martin Van Buren, who assembled a wide cadre of politicians in every state behind war hero An ...

. He served as chairman of the Ohio campaign for

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

presidential campaign President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

in 1960, and gave financial support to

Hubert Humphrey Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr. (May 27, 1911 – January 13, 1978) was an American pharmacist and politician who served as the 38th vice president of the United States from 1965 to 1969. He twice served in the United States Senate, representing Mi ...

in 1968. He became treasurer of the party in 1973, and served on the

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the governing body of the United States Democratic Party. The committee coordinates strategy to support Democratic Party candidates throughout the country for local, state, and national office, as well a ...

and its executive committee.

Death

Cole died January 8, 1995, in Palm Beach,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

from complications from a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

, shortly after his 81st birthday.

References

{{reflist 1914 births 1995 deaths