Benjamin Cole (mayor) - Cole's Family

Cole's Family

Benjamín Cole had four children with his first wife, music teacher (and long-time organist for the Roman Catholic cathedral of Mayagüez) Angelina Simón. His sons with Simón were all professional musicians at one time or another, while his daughter was the voice-over announcer for WIPM-TV, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) Public television station in the city. None were involved in politics. From this marriage there are many grandchildren, several involved in music like their grandparents, most notably Henry Cole, a famous percussionist and composer.

Cole's second wife was his right hand and according to many his secret weapon in a long, undefeated career in Puerto Rico's contentious political world, where even mighty figures are easily met with failure. Given many ad honorem roles by her husband as advisor and co-campaigner, Nereida Falto de Cole gained a reputation for being a blunt, tenacious political operative and a capable and strict public administrator. A figure of considerable influence in her own right, Nereida was known as the operational, grass roots arm to Benjamin's political efforts. She retired from a long, distinguished career in government, where she was the first woman to head a public corporation in Puerto Rico, the now defunct CRUV for public housing.

At times, political adversaries tried to gain leverage from the fact that Nereida wielded so much influence in her husband's administration and campaigns. It was public knowledge that Nereida was involved in the majority of Cole's projects from their inception, helping him devise development strategies and proving a valuable ally with the oversight of operations, which was one of her areas of expertise. Given that she was such a knowledgeable public officer and speaker on her own, some went so far as to claim that Cole was merely a front man for his wife, and that the city of Mayagüez was being run by a woman (at a time when sexism was prevalent in politics and public life in Puerto Rico). Cole turned this claim into a boon for his campaign, admitting that by voting for him the city was getting two excellent leaders fro the price of one.

Cole's public acknowledgment of his wife as his most trusted advisor was an innovation in Puerto Rican politics that had not occurred before or since. However, the couple's teamwork in the city's affairs gained the full trust of voters and supporters, and the recognition and admiration of the political leaders of both parties. In matters of economic development, she was consulted and granted deference by the presidents of her party and those of the opposition. In fact, in his study of the trajectory and success of Cole's career, Professor Jorge Heine found that one of the key elements in Cole's accomplishments was his wife's involvement in his political and public affairs. After Cole's death, many people in the city and in the Popular Party asked Mrs. Cole to run for mayor of Mayagüez, but she declined, preferring to work in favor of the dispossessed from the non-profit sector as well as an entrepreneur in housing management and development.

From his marriage to Nereida, Cole had three other children. The oldest, Nereida Ines, was employed by Senate President Miguel Hernandez Agosto and by the commonwealth's Cultural Institute. She was admired for her radio broadcasting during political campaigns, in which she showed the same wit and mordancy her father was known for. The second daughter, Evelyn, was a precocious public speaker and political organizer, tapped by Governor Rafael Hernandez Colon to run a cabinet level state agency at the age of 21, the youngest person in Puerto Rico to occupy such a position. Long expected to follow in her father's political footsteps, Evelyn, who is also an award winning poet and writer, retired from public life in 1988. The youngest of the three, Harold Benjamin, is a commercial airline captain who flies internationally and has never been involved in public life. None of Nereida's children reside in Puerto Rico.