Gwen was the eldest child born to parents Stan and Leola Suter on October 28, 1940 in Bega. She was followed by four siblings, Colin (Canberra), Ross (Bega), Fay Duffey (Sutton) and Rhonda Crowe (Bega).

Gwen married John Cole, on April 22, 1961 at St John's Church, Bega. Mr Cole was the son of Ray Beatrice Cole, who owned the General Store in Quaama for many years.

Gwen worked in the office of the Bega Co-op Store Momsen Motors for many years before moving to Narooma, Dapto, Cooma and Canberra.

She continued to work until retirement.

In 1968 they adopted a son Michael (Canberra) followed by a daughter Sheryn (Perth) in 1970. They welcomed a grandson, Daniel (Perth) in June, 1996.

John passed away in 2012 and in April 2013 Gwen was diagnosed with mesothelioma.

At the time she was given around five years, but she battled on for eight years while also developing Parkinson's disease.

Life wasn't very kind to Gwen the past few years especially the last two where she had to sell her home to go into care. COVID made visiting, outings and the rest very hard for her.

However all her siblings were able to take her out for the day of her 80th birthday which she enjoyed very much although she was very unwell at the time.

Gwen was cremated at Norwood Park Crematorium, Canberra on Friday 25, 2021. Rest in Peace now.