Helen Cole

Helen TeAta Gale Cole (July 13, 1922 – April 7, 2004) was an American politician who served in the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1979 to 1984, when she was first elected to the Oklahoma Senate. Cole returned to the state senate in 1991 and was succeeded by Kathleen Wilcoxson in 1997. Her son, Tom Cole, is the longest-serving Native American in the history of the United States Congress. Early life and education Helen TeAta Gale was born in Tishomingo, Oklahoma, on July 13, 1922, to William Oakley Gale and Avis Minnette Fifield (Thompson). She was raised in a single-parent household and graduated from Ardmore High School in 1939. Career Cole was active in several local civic and political organizations, and contributed to the successful gubernatorial campaigns of Henry Bellmon and Dewey Bartlett. Cole was named a delegate to the 1968 Republican National Convention, and Bartlett appointed her to the Oklahoma Personnel Board. Cole then ran for a seat on the Oklahoma House of Representatives. From 1979 to 1984, she represented district 54.