Perhaps Marguerite Cole Moore, ’60, was predestined to become a pharmacist. Her father, Wallace Cole, grew up in Salida, Colorado, and worked there for Wagoner’s Drug Store. When he graduated from high school in 1924, he worked in Denver for Maier Drug and Strickland Drug Company, prior to enrolling in the Capitol College of Pharmacy. After graduating in 1928, he purchased a drug store in Center, Colorado. Eventually, he ended up buying Pioneer Drug in Lamar, Colorado, which he renamed Cole’s Prescription Pharmacy. He received his fifty-year certificate of Pharmacy Registration in 1978.
Marguerite fondly remembers her first job working the soda fountain at her dad’s pharmacy when she was in elementary school. This was when drug stores typically had a lunch counter or a soda fountain. While in high school, she graduated to bookkeeping for the store. Then, her father began training her as an apprentice pharmacist.
The work had a powerful effect on Marguerite. She decided to pursue a medical career. After a year of community college in Lamar, she enrolled at CU thinking that she would become a physical therapist. Yet, pharmacy continued to tug at her heartstrings. She remembers walking past the pharmacy building feeling that she truly belonged there. Marguerite ultimately transferred to the Pharmacy School and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1960.
Starting out in the pharmacy at General Rose Memorial Hospital (now Rose Medical Center) in Denver, Marguerite and her first husband moved around the country several times, allowing her to work in five different states which included retail, hospital, clinical and long-term care pharmacy settings. She enjoyed her work, especially the opportunities to engage with colleagues and build relationships with customers. She retired from her pharmacy career in Oregon.
Marguerite described her years in pharmacy as both gratifying and enriching.
“It’s a good career,” she said. “You can do so much, whether it’s working in a retail, clinical or hospital pharmacy, even research and drug development.”
CU did a good job of preparing Marguerite for her career.
“My degree gave me good foundational skills,” she said. “I was able to adapt.”
Marguerite even passed Florida’s pharmacy boards when she and her first husband moved there.
“The Florida boards were a lot different than Colorado’s, but I passed them,” she recalled.
Recognizing what Pharmacy meant to her and her father, Marguerite decided to support the Skaggs School with an estate commitment.
When she passes, the Wallace S. Cole Endowed Memorial Scholarship Fund will provide scholarship support to future CU pharmacists. Marguerite would like to make the journey of becoming a pharmacist more available to young people and less costly.
When asked why she chose to make a gift through her will, Marguerite mentioned flexibility. She and her husband, Ted, are still working on their retirement plans. Knowing that she doesn’t have to make an irrevocable decision with her giving is a comfort to her, in addition to being good fit for her financial goals.
Create your own CU legacy by contacting the Office of Gift Planning at 303-541-1229 or giftplanning@cu.edu.
March 31, 2024