Mr. Coates passed away Thursday night, March 18, 2010 at Tennessee State Veteran's Home in Humboldt.
The widower of Margaret Lewis Coates, who died July 22, 2003, he was a civil engineer for J.B. McCreary and Ellis-Reeves in Memphis before retiring in 1982. A native of Kissimmee, Florida, he was born January 26, 1927 to the late William Albert Coates and Oline Smith Coates. Mr. Coates served in the Army Signal Corps during World War, attended St. Luke's Episcopal Church and Bolivar First United Methodist Church, attended Mississippi State, and was a member of the Memphis Transportation Museum and the Railroad Club.
Survivors include a son, Thomas A. "Al" Coates; a daughter, Susan Jane Coates; two stepdaughters, Ann Turnage and Cathy Latham; and a stepson, Dwight Miller. In addition to his wife and parents, he was preceded in death by a sister, Martha Adams; and a brother, William Albert Coates, Jr.