Robert “Bob” Rockwell Cole of Westwood, Mass., and Little Compton, passed away on Thursday, June 11, 2020, at the age of 84. He grew up in Upper Montclair, NJ, and was the son of both the late John Rockwell Cole and Margaret Buehler Cole.
Bob attended Mount Hebron Elementary and Junior High School. He went on to graduate from Phillips Academy in 1954. He graduated with a BA in Finance from Brown University in 1958 and from Columbia with an MBA in 1961.
Bob married Betsy Hasbrouck from Montclair, NJ, in 1960. They lived in New York City where they had their first born child, Carolyn Hasbrouck Cole in 1962. They moved to Greenwich, Conn., where they had their second child, Susan Rockwell Cole in 1965. They then settled in Darien, Conn., in 1966 and lived there for 40 years. Subsequently, they lived in New Canaan, spent winters in Vero Beach, Fla., and eventually moved to Fox Hill Village in Westwood.
Bob started his career at Citibank in 1961, and moved to MacKay Shields in 1966 where he was a partner for 22 years. In 1988 he co-founded White Oak Capital Management with his previous business partner and ran the business for the remainder of his career.
Bob enjoyed being a member of Wee Burn Country Club, Mill Reef Club, John’s Island Country Club, Sakonnet Golf Club, Warren’s Point Beach Club, Sakonnet Yacht Club, Sakonnet Point Club and Dedham Country and Polo Club.

He loved to travel. He was an avid tennis and paddle player. He deeply enjoyed spending summers in Little Compton with his family and longtime friends. Bob was always thoughtful in conversation with everyone with whom he spoke, and was intrigued discussing the stock market, finances, and global politics. Recently, at Fox Hill he was an active member of the “Breakfast Club” where they would discuss, and casually debate, the issues of the day.
Bob is survived by his wife, Elizabeth Hasbrouck Cole (Betsy) of 59 years; his daughter, Carolyn Hasbrouck Cole of Big Sky, Montana; his daughter, Susan Cole Callahan and her husband Topher Callahan of Wellesley, Mass.; his sister, Elizabeth A. Cole of Naples, Fla.; and his seven grandchildren, Hannah, Robert and Haley Paddock, Charlie, Cole, Hugh and Carl Callahan.
Services will be held in Little Compton at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory can be made to Mass General Hospital Neurology Research and Clinical Care, https://giving.massgeneral.org/donate/neurology-research-and-clinical-care/. Online guestbook at gfdoherty.com. Arrangements by George F. Doherty & Sons Funeral Home, Wellesley, Mass.