Marvin Frederick Cole was a Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

 jurist. After earning a bachelor's degree

Bachelor's degree

A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...

 from the University of Richmond

University of Richmond

The University of Richmond is a selective, private, nonsectarian, liberal arts university located on the border of the city of Richmond and Henrico County, Virginia. The University of Richmond is a primarily undergraduate, residential university with approximately 4,000 undergraduate and graduate...

 in 1943, he joined the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

. As a communications officer stationed in Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

, he helped a joint congressional committee investigate the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor

Attack on Pearl Harbor

The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...

. After the war, he entered the University of Richmond

University of Richmond

The University of Richmond is a selective, private, nonsectarian, liberal arts university located on the border of the city of Richmond and Henrico County, Virginia. The University of Richmond is a primarily undergraduate, residential university with approximately 4,000 undergraduate and graduate...

's T.C. Williams School of Law, graduating in 1948. He practiced law with two firms before becoming a partner in his own firm in 1969, where he remained until joining Richmond Circuit Court. Judge Cole was a member of the Virginia State Bar for more than 50 years and was a former president of the Richmond Trial Lawyers Association. He also served as a judge for national moot court trials, the YMCA's mock-trial program and for trial tactics courses at the University of Richmond

University of Richmond

The University of Richmond is a selective, private, nonsectarian, liberal arts university located on the border of the city of Richmond and Henrico County, Virginia. The University of Richmond is a primarily undergraduate, residential university with approximately 4,000 undergraduate and graduate...

. In 1985, following the death of Chief Judge E. Ballard Baker

E. Ballard Baker

E. Ballard Baker was a Virginia jurist who served briefly as the first Chief Judge of the newly created Court of Appeals of Virginia before his death in 1985. He was succeeded as Chief Judge by Lawrence L. Koontz, Jr. and the vacancy on the Court created by his death was filled by Judge Marvin...

, Judge Cole was appointed the Court of Appeals of Virginia

Court of Appeals of Virginia

The Court of Appeals of Virginia, established January 1, 1985, is an eleven-judge body that hears appeals from decisions of Virginia's circuit courts and the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission. The Court sits in panels of at least three judges, and sometimes hears cases en banc...

. He retired from active service in 1991, but continued to sit as a Senior Judge for another nine years.