Jeff Cole, a UM graduate who worked for the Kaimin before going on to write for the Wall Street Journal, died in a jet crash on Jan. 25.
Cole, 45, was the Journal's aerospace editor and one of the nation's top aerospace reporters. He died in a plane crash near Denver that also killed Atlas Air Chairman, Michael Chowdry.
Prior to his stint at the Wall Street Journal, Cole worked for the Seattle Times, the Tacoma News Tribune, the Herald in Everett, Wash., The St. Paul Pioneer Press in Minnesota and the Missoulian.
"Talk about somebody who wanted to be a reporter," UM journalism professor Carol Van Valkenburg said. "When Jeff graduated from UM he took a job as the Deer Lodge correspondent for the Missoulian because it was the only position open. At the same time, he was driving truck for UPS."
Cole is survived by his wife, Maria Little, a stepson and two grown children from a previous marriage