Elizabeth Vaala

Elizabeth Anette Cole was born June 30th, 1958 in Wareham, Massachusetts, to William C. Cole and Peggy A. Chamblee.  The middle child of 3 girls, her father was in the US Air Force so she grew up in and around several Air Force base communities.  After Massachusetts, during the 1960’s, she lived in Wiesbaden, Germany, and Colorado Springs, Colorado.  After that, her family was in Warner Robins, Georgia, until 1975.  At Northside High School in Warner Robins, she was active in many school activities and played the flute and the piccolo in the band.  It was here she met her future husband, Daniel W. Vaala.

She and Dan were married their senior year in college.  She, along with Dan, graduated from Mercer University in Macon Georgia in 1980 with BS degrees in biology.  Following college, she and Dan moved out west and Elizabeth ended up in California while Dan was in Tucson, Arizona.  It was not the first time the pair had maintained a long-distance relationship, but as can happen, this time they drifted apart and there was about an 18-year hiatus in their relationship.  During this time Elizabeth worked at OSHA, the US Naval Shipyard in Long Beach, the US Coast Guard in Oakland, and lastly the VA in Sheridan, Wyoming.  Destined, she felt, to return to her “husband in the eyes of God” and after fully embracing Christianity she indeed did return and married Dan a second time in 2005.  For the next 20 years, she and Dan made a wonderful life for themselves in Story, Wyoming, where they owned and operated VIKING Broadband Inc., a TV, Internet, and phone provider in Yellowstone County, Montana.  As Office Administrator/Bookkeeper/Receptionist she played an important and valued role.

Elizabeth was always a vivacious, fun-loving, and naturally beautiful woman.  She was always interested in health and was active in the alternative health movement.  She taught herself homeopathy and did advanced level yoga among many other things.  She was a homebody and she made a wonderful home.  She loved to cook, and like her mother, she was a very good cook.  She was very intelligent and an avid and prolific reader.  Her whole adult life she was a serious person and an authentic truth seeker.  In her words, she found the truth she sought and felt blessed to have been able to share that enlightenment, that unblinding, with her husband these last 15 years.

Elizabeth passed away painlessly and peacefully on May 28, 2024, in Sheridan, Wyoming.  She is preceded in death by her parents, William and Peggy Cole, and both of her sisters, Jennifer Cole and Rose Gawin.  She is survived by her husband and longtime ardent admirer, Daniel Vaala.

A memorial service for Elizabeth Vaala will be held at 11am on Wednesday, June 12, 2024, at Story Community Church with Pastor John Constantine officiating. Immediately following the service there will be a reception held at Story Woman’s Club. Champion Funeral Home has been entrusted with local arrangements. Online condolences may be written at www.championfh.com. For those that are unable to attend the service please follow the link below to view the livestream. 

https://boxcast.tv/view/funeral-service-for-elizabeth-vaala-nqyhgn0qczugxof3ospv