Philip Edwin Cole

PORT ORANGE, Fla. – On Monday, Dec. 11, 2023, Philip Edwin Cole, husband to Arlene Spraker Cole, father of two children, and grandfather of three, left this world at the age of 84.

Philip was born in Portland on Oct. 26, 1939, to parents, Norman and Dorothy Robinson Cole. Phil graduated Kents Hill School in 1958 and briefly attended Boston University before returning to work at Humpty Dumpty Potato Chips, which was owned and managed by his mother.

He built a house in Buxton and became active in local service organizations including the Jaycees and Boy Scouts. After his mother’s death, Phil partnered with George Doody, to purchase Humpty Dumpty from his stepfather, and he managed the company until the early 1990s when he was diagnosed with kidney disease. He sold the company and spent the next decade living on a sailboat. He received a kidney transplant in 2004 that provided him almost two decades of healthy life. During that time, he traveled the country in an RV, spent summers in a family cottage on Sebago Lake and wintered in Port Orange, Fla.

He is survived by his wife, Arlene, of 60 years; his children, Sue and Brian; grandchildren Suzie, David, and Aidan; his sister, Judith Selberg; cousins; and nieces and nephews.

Phil had an unquenchable zeal for life and adventure. In his youth he raced cars and was a daredevil on the Kents Hill ski team. Later, he and his family spent decades hiking and backpacking in the mountains of New Hampshire and Maine. Phil was Scoutmaster of Troop 349 in Buxton for over 10 years, and the troop was known throughout Maine for its many hiking, camping, backpacking and canoe trips. Together with Arlene, Phil sailed the east coast and the open seas between Maine and the Caribbean. Later, they spent months at a time touring the mountains of the western U.S., Canada, and Alaska.

With his easy grin and gregarious nature, Phil made fast friends wherever he traveled. His family was always foremost in his mind, and he delighted in spending time with his children and grandchildren and those of his extended family. He had an outsized presence in life and will be greatly missed.

The family will be holding a memorial service for Phil this coming summer at Sebago Lake.