Raymond Cole died on September 25, 2001 of a stroke. It was his second, the first having left him unable to speak and paralyzed on the right side. He is survived by his widow, Myra Cole and two daughters, Lynn and Jann.

Because their farm was destroyed by a tornado, Raymond Cole's parents moved his family to Oregon in 1936 when Raymond was 10. The family had long been Sabbatarian, and Raymond was heavily influenced by the preaching of Herbert Armstrong during his teen years. He was one of the first four students at Ambassador College when it opened in 1947. His name and footprints were in the cement at the original gate to the college, though the cement block they were placed in was later removed.

Raymond Cole believed that Herbert Armstrong’s teaching was inspired of God. When Herbert Armstrong changed his teaching on Pentecost and divorce and remarriage, Raymond felt he had no right to change what God inspired. So, in 1974, he incorporated his own church, the Church of God, The Eternal, even though he considered it the same spiritual body as the WCG.