Here is a more detailed obituary from the Raleigh News & Observer. I'm copying it because I had to pay for a one-day access to the archived obituary, so the link wouldn't be good for long.

Thanks for the Picktoid link, Arkie. It was good to listen.


Kenneth Reagan Cole



Kenneth Reagan Cole, age 60, of Durham, NC, died June 6, 2008.
Born December 13, 1947 in Little Rock, AR to K.E.N. Cole, Jr. and Helen Reagan Cole, Reagan was interested in everything around him. He was an eagle scout. His was an active participant in the fledgling Rackensack Folklore Society by his junior high years. His passion for the traditional music of his native state led him to start constructing banjos and guitars at 14. He lived and worked in Little Rock and Eureka Springs, Arkansas; Ireland; and Durham, NC. Reagan earned a Biology degree ('71) from Antioch College. He worked as a luthier, building and repairing musical instruments for several years. He then returned to school for a Master's degree in Instrumentation Science and a Ph.D. ('99) in Applied Science from the University of Arkansas Graduate Institute of Technology. His dissertation research resulted in a patented Versatile Particle Analyzer.
Reagan and his wife, Lynn moved to Durham, NC in 2000 for Reagan's National Research Council Fellowship at the U.S E.P.A. in Research Triangle Park. Following his time at the EPA, Reagan joined the NC Museum of Life and Science as an Exhibits Engineer until late 2007.
Reagan was a founding member of Little Rock Folk Club and in North Carolina, joined the board of the Triangle Folk Music Society. With both organizations, he produced Celtic, British and American folk concerts.
Reagan was perhaps described best by his late father who wrote in 1967 that his 20 year-old son: "is a mature and moral youngster who has always been willing to break away from the crowd to stand on his own moral principles. He is an extremely intelligent person, well read and has a very bright future in the scientific research field. Reagan is neither a conformist, nor a coward. He is not a member of any group that requires conformity; because he insists on doing his own thinking. He is not a beatnik, hippie, communist, Presbyterian, Democrat or Republican which he has been taught to believe is his constitutional privilege." It was his nonconformist ideals, his boundless curiosity and creative intellect which contributed to his amazing abilities as an inventor, a scientist, a husband, a father, and a musician.
To many, Reagan will best be remembered for his music, particularly for his distinctive interpretations of both traditional and contemporary folk. Reagan had a unique musical style as well as an encyclopedic knowledge of music for which he will be sorely missed.
Reagan is preceded in death by his parents, K.E.N. Cole, Jr., and Helen Regan Cole and his youngest brother, Ed Andrew Cole.
He is survived by his loving wife of more than 30 years, Susan Lynn Cole; two children, Helen Vada Susan Cole and Joseph Ed Cole; a brother, Roy David Cole; and one granddaughter.
Donations may be made to Special Collections of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville to support the conservation and digitization of folklorist, Mary Parler's field recordings of Ozark folk songs and tales: University of Arkansas Libraries, Development Office, 365 N. McIlroy Ave., Fayetteville, AR 72701-4002. Please note "Mary Parler" in the memo line.