Remembering Erma Jean Cole, A Dade County Icon

Vanessa White still remembers the first time she saw her adoptive mother, though nearly four decades have passed since that moment. 

White and her brother were huddled in the back of a police cruiser, both scared, all of their belongings stuffed into black plastic trash bags in the car’s trunk. Though she was only eight years old, White had already passed through multiple foster placements, and she knew what they offered. Isolation. Loneliness. Impermanence. Four walls and a place to sleep, but not a home.

It was July 1989. 

Although it was after midnight, the heat of the Georgia summer still hung heavy as White opened the car door. Taking a breath, she stepped outside and saw Erma Jean Cole for the first time. Erma was standing on her front porch wearing a pink dress with blue flowers, and she was doing something White hadn’t expected. She was smiling, and she was laughing.

“The day I laid eyes on her, I knew there was something special about her,” White said. “She had the biggest smile on her face because she was just so happy for us to arrive, for us to finally be home. From there, life really changed for me.”

White’s story is not unique. From the time she turned 24 years old in November 1963, Erma would foster over 200 children, giving them–as so many described it–their first feeling of safety in lives previously only marked by loss, abuse and fear.

Erma died on Jan. 10 of this year. She was buried on Jan. 31 at Lakewood Memory Gardens in Chattanooga. 

Born on Nov. 27, 1939 in Richland City, TN, Erma would move several times in her life, though over the next 86 years, she never left the Tennessee River Valley, and for much of that, she called Dade County home. 

Over the course of her life, Erma changed the lives of countless others, not only the children she fostered but also their families, their friends, and the communities they would go on to build when they had children of their own. Her cousin-in-law, Diann Griffith, said compassion and selflessness were not moments Erma rose to, but intentional efforts she built her life around. 

“Erma had a smile that melted you down and made you want to be her friend. She never had an unkind word to say to anybody, and the way she lived her life just made her a joy,” Griffith said.
“She was a perfect person to be around. She never turned down anybody who had a need, and she was always working to lift up and offer assistance. She was just that type of person.”

Erma married her husband, Arthur Lee Cole, at 17 years old. Until his death in 2022, family members said the two remained inseparable, bound by a shared commitment to opening their home to children who needed one. Together, they provided stability for a generation of foster children, whether it was for a weekend or a lifetime.

Khloe White, one of Erma’s grandchildren who considered her a mother, remembered moments the two of them shared in the garden, laughing and talking as they worked side by side.

“My mama was the definition of love and selflessness. When she took me and my siblings in, she didn’t just give us a place to live. She gave us a home where we felt safe, wanted and deeply cared for,” Khloe White said. “She was always there to help in ways big and small, offering help and support constantly. She offered unconditional love without asking for anything in return. Her home was a refuge, her presence a comfort and her legacy will live on through everyone she’s touched. She is truly one in a million.”

Her work in the community gained statewide attention when, in the early 1970s, Erma and Arthur were recognized by Governor Jimmy Carter with the Governor’s Citizenship Award for their service to the state. 

Erma’s impact was recognized locally in 2013 when she and Arthur were named grand marshals of the Dade County Homecoming Parade. In 2015, she was awarded an honorary Dade County High School diploma with the graduating class, receiving a standing ovation as she accepted it. Four years ago, she was crowned Queen of Dade County at the inaugural Dade County 1945 July 4th Fair. 

Erma’s daughter, Daja Cole, said that while public recognition was well deserved, her mother cared most about the joy she brought to those she welcomed into her home.

“My mama was a queen. She cared for everyone and anyone. She was a light to so many people. With her kindness, smile, and presence she could make any one’s day better. She welcomed so many children into her home and she loved all of us the same,” Daja Cole said. “As we let her rest, we will continue what she started and keep making her proud. She is my favorite person ever and I will never stop loving her and missing her.”

For White, the night she met Erma became the quiet beginning of a life she had never imagined for herself.

White stayed with Erma until she graduated from Dade County High School, a turning point she traces back to something simple–encouragement. It was Erma who first urged her to pick up a basketball, White said, setting her on a path that led to a college scholarship at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and, years later, a career as a high school teacher and girls basketball coach near Atlanta. Now a mother to twins herself, White said she sees that moment as the beginning of everything that followed.

But again, her story isn’t unique. Erma gave so many children direction when they were lost, White said, and perhaps more importantly, safety and love when those things seemed like something they’d never find.

“I don’t think I was loved until I walked through her door,” White said. “Every kid that walked through that door considered her their mom. I remember kids coming in for two weeks and crying about leaving. It was just special. She was just special.”

She is survived by her children: Scottie (Mitzi) Cole of Chattanooga, TN; James (Brenda) Cole of Chattanooga, TN; Michele Cole of Jonesboro, GA; Jennifer Ryals of Chattanooga, TN; Jackie (Tommy) Ballard of Wildwood, GA; Debbie Cole of Rossville, GA; Vanessa White of Duluth, GA; April Cole of Wildwood, GA; Amy Cole of Wildwood, GA; Thomas White of Lexington, KY; Dequavis Cole of Vero Beach, FL; Theodore Cole of Wildwood, GA; Freedom Cole of Chattanooga, TN; and Daja Cole of Chattanooga, TN.

She is also survived by her siblings: Andrew Mobley and Diane Mobley of South Pittsburg, TN, and Phillip Mobley of Flint, MI; sisters-in-law, Geraldine Strickland and Louise Gaines of Chattanooga, TN.

Her legacy continues through her grandchildren: Jalen Jones, Jordan Jones, Olivia Tucker, Jennifer Chubb, Leslie Tucker, Pat Famber, David Cole, Brooklynn White, Hayden White, Khloe White, Noah White, Jessa Graham, Javen Graham, Tamori Ballard, Caitlyn Ballard, Ava Martinez, Amirah Martinez, Torante Ballard, and Zekin Ballard; and great-grandchildren Giannah Tucker, Elijah Tucker, Madison Jones, Jayce Tucker, Corey Tucker and Taye Hutchins.