Maria Cole Dies

Maria Cole, mother of Natalie Cole and the widow of Nat King Cole, passed away Tuesday after a battle with cancer.  Maria sang with the Count Basie Band then moved to the Duke Ellington Orchestra, then became a soloist in 1946.  She met Nat shortly after.  Her and Nat had four children, daughter Natalie, twins Casey and Timolin, and then adopted a daughter, Carol, who was known as Cookie.  She died in 2009 when she had an operation to donate a kidney to Natalie.