caption associated_acts death_date death_place interred birth_place background birth_date image article_title birth_name
nat and maria cole , 1951 natalie cole 10 july 2012 boca raton , florida forest lawn memorial park , glendale , california boston , massachusetts solo_singer 1 august 1922 file : nat and maria cole 1951.jpg maria cole
 maria hawkins
maria cole

maria hawkins cole -lrb- formerly ellington during her first marriage to spurgeon ellington , a tuskegee airman -rrb- -lrb- august 1 , 1922 -- july 10 , 2012 -rrb- was the widow of singer nat king cole and mother of singer natalie cole .
she was also a jazz singer who worked most notably with count basie and duke ellington .
she met nat king cole while they were both singing at the zanzibar club .
she had 4 children in addition to natalie : carol , adopted by her and nat when she was 3 , when her birth mother -lrb- nat 's sister -rrb- died ; son kelly , who died of aids in his early 20s , and twin daughters timolin and casey .
her third marriage was to a man several years her junior , gary devore .
they ran an inn in the berkshires together for several years .
the marriage ended in divorce .
cole was born in boston and was the niece of charlotte hawkins brown .
her father , mingo hawkins , was a letter carrier .
her mother , carol , died while giving birth to her sister .
cole died in a nursing home in boca raton , florida on july 10 , 2012 , at the age of 89 , shortly after being diagnosed with cancer .
