Annie married George Richard STEVENS, * on 3 Sep 1854 in St. John The Baptist, Haxton, Shoreditch, London, Middlesex, ENG. George (son of Joseph STEVENS and Mary UNKNOWN) was born on 20 Sep 1830 in Chelsea, Middlesex, ENG; was christened on 17 Oct 1830 in St. Luke, Chelsea, London, ENG; died on 27 Oct 1899 in Wood Green, Middlesex, ENG. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

According to his obituary in the Dayton Journal dated Mar. 29, 1922, he was born in Manchester, England. Family tradition has been that he was born in London or in Lancaster, England (Death certificate). However, in the 1881 census record for England his birth place is listed as Rugby, Warwick, England. This is the only source that lists his birth place while he was alive. It was not the same as his wife's or children's place of birth. His birth date is listed as Nov. 25, 1853 or Nov. 25, 1857 (death certificate).

The 1881 census tells us that he was 24 years of age, making either 1856 or 1857 correct. His christening record took place in Aug. of 1857, so he was therefore likely born in Nov. of 1856. Fred Stevens gave the information on the death certificate that is often at variance with other sources. There is a John Stevens and Keturah Dimmock living in the Parish of Hackney, Co. of Middlesex in 1875 on Englefield Rd. that are probably them. (C-589) He was a superintendent of the mechanical department for the "ChatterBox". It was an English child's annual storybook.

In the 1881 census, John is listed as a printer and they lived at 161 Eversleigh Rd., Battersea, Surrey, England. In his christening record and 1881 census record, his name is listed as John Stevens. My father remembered his middle name being Charles, but that has not been verified. He (age 26) and his wife, "Katy" (age 27) and sons, Fred (age 7) and George (age 4) emigrated to the United States arriving in New York on November 1, 1883 on the Grecian Monarch. This was before Ellis Island was opened. They had departed from London, England. John was listed as a printer by profession. They came in Steerage with 3 pieces of luggage for the entire family. (C: Doc)

In his 1922 obituary, he was listed as having been in the U.S. for 35 years, but in reality it was around 39 years. They first moved to Wheeling, West Virginia where he worked as in Interior Decorator. They them moved to Dayton, Ohio in 1892 where he continued in the same trade and where he lived for the remainder of his days. He is listed as a painter living at 1916 E. Fifth Street in the Dayton, Ohio 1889 and 1890 directories. There are several Stevens in the Dayton, Montgomery Co., OH directory of 1887 that have similar names to his children, who could be his relatives that he followed to Ohio. They include an A.E. Stevens, an Alfred, a George W. (1845-1923) and a John Stevens. (C-1905, C-Doc) In the U.S. 1900 census, John is listed as a house painter who could read, write and speak English. They rented their home at 411 N. Main St, Dayton, Ohio. Both John's and Keturah's parents were born in England. (C-98) In his later years, John worked for a cookie factory called Greene and Greene as a painter and custodian.

His sons (Alfred) George and Albert Edward were at one time both in the painting business with him. They lived through 7 floods in the United States. (C-2,4, 1899) These floods might account for the reason they moved often renting the following residences in Dayton, Ohio according to Dayton City Directories: 1900: 411N Main St., 1902: 67 E. Halena, 1908: 218 N. Linwood, 1914: 522 W. 3rd. In his death certificate, his son Fred gives his birth date as Nov. 25, 1857. However, both census records give his age matching a birth year of 1853. (C-226, C:Doc)

As for his death, this was a very sad event for his children. John had remarried and was quite ill. When my father's mother and her sisters wanted to visit their father on his death bed on Bolander Ave, their new mother-in-law wouldn't let them in. She got all of his belongings including all the family heirlooms and furniture from England. The daughters even suspected that he was poisoned by his wife. However, his death certificate says that he died of a cerebral hemorrhage compounded by pneumonia that he'd had for the last 7 days. He died at 9:30 on a Monday evening. The funeral was held at the home of his daughter, Keturah Ritter, at 2:00 p.m. on Mar. 30, 1922. (C:DOC, 2077, 2517)

John married Keturah (Kitty) DIMMACK on 2 Jun 1875 in Hackney, Middlesex, ENG. Keturah (daughter of Benjamin DIMMOCK and Martha AUSTIN) was born on 2 Jun 1855 in West Bromwich, Staffordshire, ENG; died on 11 Feb 1918 in Dayton, Montgomery, OH, USA; was buried on 14 Feb 1918 in Woodland Cemetery, Dayton, Montgomery, OH, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

John married UNKNOWN after Feb 1918 in Dayton, Montgomery, OH, USA. died after Mar 1922. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Joseph likely died young. He was not in then 1861, 1871 or 1881 census for this family.

Notes:

He is listed as a Newsagent and Tobacconist by trade at age 16 in the 1881 census records. He is still living with his parents at the time. In the 1891 census for Brixton, Lambeth, ENG, he is still living with his parents. He is age 26, a carpenter, born in Rugby, Warwick, England.

Notes:

He had either died or was living on his own when the 1881 census was taken as he was not living with his family at that time. It is more likely that he died young.

Notes:

Annie was attending school at age 11 as she is listed as a "scholar" in the 1881 British Census records. In the 1891 census, she is still living at home, age 21, and a dressmaker by trade. Like her brother Thomas, her birth place is listed as Rugby, Warwick, England.

Notes:

Uncle Fred was about age 7 when his family came to the U.S. Fred was living at 2823 W. 3rd St. in Dayton, Ohio when he gave the info for his father, John Stevens death on Mar 27, 1922. He lived in the following residences in the Dayton City Directories: 1901-1902: Screwmaker, res. 167 N. Best (wife Effie), 1908: Toolmaker, 140 W. Holt St., (Effie), 1914: Stevens Mfg. Co. at 1119 W. 2nd (wife Effie M.). According to my father, his nephew, Fred moved to Longbeach, California. Dad stayed with him a few months as he went out on his own as a young man. (C-1900)

John married Effie Mae FRYE on 3 Feb 1896 in New Carlisle, Montgomery, OH, USA. Effie was born in in , Miami, OH, USA; died on 19 Jan 1965 in Longbeach, Los Angeles, CA; was buried on 22 Jan 1965 in Sunnyside Mausoleum, Longbeach, Los Angeles, CA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Alfred became known as A. George in the city directories by the time he married around 1902. My father knew him as Uncle George. He is listed as a paper hanger in the 1900 U.S. census. He is listed as living in the following addresses in the Dayton City Directories: 1900-1902: (painter living with father at 411 N. Main St.), and 1902-1908: Assembler having a home at 447 S. Quitman, (C-98). By 1914 he and his wife are missing from the directories. According to my father, his wife was German and he couldn't understand a word her family spoke. He eventually joined the First World War in Canada to fight the Germans. Afterwords, he basically left his wife and was living in Detroit, Michigan where he raised a second family.

Birth:
Event Description: Or Battersea, Surrey, Prince Edward Island, Canada

Alfred married Amelia UNKNOWN about 1902. Amelia was born about 1879 in Dayton, Montgomery, OH, USA; died on 5 Oct 1938 in Dayton, Montgomery, OH, USA; was buried in Woodland Cemetery, Dayton, Montgomery, OH, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

He never married. In 1900, he was a Telegraph Messenger. He lived in Chicago in 1922 at his father's death. Though Thomas lived his final years in Mexico, his gravestone is in Dayton, Ohio where his mother is also buried. He was not respected in the family. (C-44, 98)

Notes:

Our Albert E. Stevens was listed with the following occupations and residences in the Dayton City Directories: 1908: Mach. 218 N. Linwood at his father's residence, 1914: Painter, 234 S. Euclid Ave. married to Estella B., and 1921: Grinder, 133 S. Eagle (Estalla). According to my father he and his family moved to Healdsburg, CA in 1923 where they lived out their lives. He is listed in Redmond, California in his father's obituary of Mar. 1922. His wife, however, died back here in my Aunt Martha Steven's Schmidt home when on a return visit 20 to 30 years after their move to California. They moved out to California because of her asthma. This is probably what killed her on her return visit to Dayton, Ohio. (C-1899, 1900, 2077) There is another A.E. (Ansel Edmond) Stevens living at 1810 E. 3rd St. in Dayton, Ohio the year that this Albert Edward was born whom is from a Stevens' family who is the son of Edmond Stevens that hales through Massachusetts and is of no known relationship to this Stevens' family.

Albert married Estella B. LINK in 1908. Estella died before 1966 in Dayton, Montgomery, OH, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Maud Stevens Coate was a true character. She is remembered by me as a great storyteller, chronic complainer, and the life of any party she attended. I really enjoyed how much fun she could be. The minute she attended a get-together, she'd be laughing and ready to do a jig. I remember her very expressive face as she scared the wits out of her grandchildren while telling them ghost stories around the campfire. I came to be a storyteller myself, partially due to her influence.

When I interviewed her, she related an interesting story about how she and her husband met. She had gone to visit her cousin Helen Lee. Helen's cousin was Albert Pickering Coate. He came to visit Helen at the same time. The three of them raided the chicken coop and cooked their catch on the day they met. Maud and Albert married 7 months later when she was almost 18. My father says that Maud's sister, Keturah, forged her mother's name on the parent consent form for their marriage. Maude remembers that she weighed 98 pounds at this event.

She had a very demanding life raising nine children through the depression years. She had to have a strong nature to make it through those years mastering the tasks of caring, cooking, and sewing for such a large crowd with absolutely minimal resources. Her husband died early in his fifties which meant she was alone to raise nine children. To her great credit, all of them graduated from High School. Four of them also completed several years of college. A fifth son, Richard, not only went to college but was likely the first Coate in our tree to achieve a degree, a B.A., majoring in theatre, minoring in American Literature and Art.

Most of her children had some involvement in the service and major wars of the 20th century. Warren and Bob served in the army in World War II. Ben served in the Air Force. Richard served in the Korean War. Shirley was in the U.S. Air Force from 1952 -1955 serving in Newfoundland. Maude was one of the original liberated women. My uncle Richard, relayed the story of when she and her husband had gotten a new horse and buggy. Albert P. had warned her not to go near the horse until he had broken him in, but Maude was a stubborn woman. She rigged him up to the buggy to go pick up her husband after work at Armco. Not only was she in for a wild ride, but she sure surprised her husband when she flew past him in the buggy where she was trying to pick him up.

She also was the first woman in Trenton to open her own business. She was an artist with her handmade afghans and crafts. Her craft store was apparently still open when I was very small. I have one memory of it. She had had the store for many years at that point in time. Her social security number, 301-30-0046 was issued in 1952, years after she had started her business.

She lived most of her life at 113 John St. in Trenton, Ohio, the yellow wood home where her children were raised. Her sons helped move her to Columbus, Ohio for her last few years to be near her family. (C-2108E) According to the newspaper clipping from the Columbus Dispatch, she was a member of the Mt. Olivet Presbyterian Church, the W.S.M. Sewing Club, the C.I.C. Sunday School class, and the D.A.R. in Trenton, Ohio. Upon her death, just shy of 90 years, she left 20 grandchildren and 25 great-grandchildren. (C-281, 282, 283, 285, 286) She and her husband are buried a couple of rows from her cousin, Albert Dimmack in section 19 of Woodside Cemetery in Middletown, Ohio, and a son, Bill, who is in section 20 of that cemetery. ( C: Doc)

Maud married Albert Pickering COATE, * on 2 May 1910 in Covington, Kenton, KY, USA. Albert (son of Warren C. COATE, * and Ida Jane HARB) was born on 12 Oct 1887 in Ludlow Falls, Miami, OH, USA; died on 2 Jun 1941 in Trenton, Butler, OH, USA; was buried on 4 Jun 1941 in Woodside Cemetery, Middletown, Butler, OH, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Keturah married Harry Edward RITTER about 1913. Harry was born on 1 Mar 1891; died on 24 May 1944. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Martha's birth record needs located as an unnamed infant to Martha's parents died 3 months after her funeral card said she was born. To me, this suggests that Martha's birth year is incorrect. If her birthdate proves to be true, then the infant child of John Stevens, who died in 1898 belonged to a different John Stevens in the area.

Martha married Godfrey SCHMIDT on 26 Feb 1920 in Dayton, Montgomery, OH, USA. Godfrey (son of John SCHMIDT and Leona HYATT) was born on 13 Nov 1895 in Dayton, Montgomery, OH, USA; died on 8 Feb 1992 in Boynton Beach, Palm Beach, Florida, United States; was buried in Boynton Beach Memorial Park, Boyton Beach, Palm Beach, FL, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

He is listed as the head of household in the 1930 census for Dayton, Ohio. He is listed with his wife, 2 children, his mother, his sister and her family. His age was 27.

Alfred married Dorothy L. STEVENS about 1921. Dorothy was born about 1903 in , , OH, USA; died after 1930 in Of Dayton, Montgomery Co, OH, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

She might be the following Gladys in the Social Security Death Index: b. 14 Dec 1903, d. Nov 1990 Whitehall, Muskegon, MI. If so, she obtained her social security number before 1950 in Michigan.

Family/Spouse: Herman MANGOLD. Herman was born about 1902 in , , OH, USA; died after 1930 in Of Dayton, Montgomery Co, OH, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

See attached sources.

Thomas married Emma SHOUP after 1925. Emma was born on 10 Dec 1912 in Morenci, Lenawee, Michigan, USA; died on 17 Nov 2007 in Bellville, , MI, USA; was buried on 21 Nov 2007. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Unknown SCHILLING. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Marahelen and my father, Albert Edward Coate, were quite close. He can remember them washing the dishes together. If they'd have a tif, he would swat her rear with the dish towel and she would flick him with the dish water. As a senior in high school, her parents sent her of a trip to visit her Uncle Robert and Aunt Margaret in Asheville, NC to thank her for helping with the latest infant in their household. There she met Charles Fuller, a relative of her uncle Robert Fuller. They wrote to each other throughout the following year. When Uncle Robert and Aunt Margaret came for a visit to Ohio the following summer, they brought Charles Fuller along to test the strength of their friendship. Marahelen and Charles became engaged on this visit in Ohio. When she told her mother, her mother dropped a plate of eggs on the floor in surprise.

Marahelen and Charles married about a year later in the Coate home in Trenton, Ohio. They went to Niagara Falls for their honeymoon and then settled in Asheville, North Carolina. They purchased their home on 87 Winston Ave., Asheville, NC 28803, in 1831 for a very good price due to the fact that they depression was on. Both Charles and Marahelen worked at Sayles Biltmore Bleacheries, a cloth manufacturer, where they had earned the money to buy their home. They lived in this sturdy house their entire adult lives. They moved in 1994 to a retirement condo also in Asheville, North Carolina. She was intelligent, efficient, artistic, and spent a lifetime as a good southern wife. She could cook a delicious meal for a crowd quickly. This is apparently a skill she developed while helping to raise all of her younger brothers and sister.

Charles was the dominant one in their marriage for the first few years only. Once she became a confident adult, her strong-minded ability to keep things organized came to the forefront. She was able to accomplish more at once than any other person my father knew. She would be frying chicken, sewing upholstery, and working on an oil painting all at the same time. I remember her energy and outgoing, friendly nature. (C-2166)

Marahelen married Charles Wesley FULLER on 22 Jul 1930. Charles was born on 18 Feb 1905; died on 6 Dec 1998 in Asheville, Buncombe, North Carolina, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Al Coate was a unique individual. He grew up before the depression and helped support his mother during it. He read an entire encyclopedia from cover to cover as a child. His mind was excellent at retaining minute facts. He rated amongst the top 3 students in the state whenever they took statewide tests in high school.

He went to Miami University and was the first man to major in Home Economics (Liberal Arts) there. He lived in a lean-to unheated barn while at Miami. He did not graduate, but when money permitted returned to work as a Home Economics major at Ohio State University specializing in Institutional Management. Apparently, his credits didn't transfer and he basically had to start school over again at OSU.

An article about him in the OSU "Undergraduate Scene" Magazine says that he tried journalism and architecture before taking the plunge into Home Economics (C-292, 470). He hoped to be a chef or restaurant manager upon graduation. He was hired as a chef at Minerva Park Golf Course in Columbus, Ohio while he attended O.S.U. Although he entered his senior year at Ohio State University, he was unable to finish due to a very serious kidney infection in 1938. Upon an operation where doctors removed 2 kidneys, he had to thank a birth defect that had given him 3 kidneys to his saved life. He was destitute by this time and left school. He moved west in search of new opportunities. During World War II, he was hired as a Camp Stewart for the men constructing the Alcon Highway in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Alaska. It was the first highway in Alaska, and my father claims to be the first hitchhiker on the highway when he went south to see his brother, Ben, off to war. Later in the war he moved to Long Beach, California where he had a job in an aircraft factory followed by employment in a ship building firm. His brother Ben lived in California at the time, and he would visit them. While he was in California, he met Marcena Clark for the first time. It was in a group setting where she was with another gentleman named Phil. They barely knew each other from this meeting.

After the war, he became a navy civil service employee on Guam in 1948. He worked as a sign painter. He has very fond memories of his time in Guam. One of his favorite stories from this time period was his near-death experience with quick sand. He was on his way to the Post Office on the other side of the island when he stepped into the muck. He realized as he was sinking that no one knew where he was and that his family would never know what happened to him. When he'd sunk clear to his shoulders, he stretched out his arms and then pulled himself out by his elbows. By the time he made it to the Post Office, he was dry! He returned to Trenton, Ohio after this service, where a meeting was again arranged by Audrey and John Amstutz between he and Marcena Irene Clark who was now living in Hamilton, Ohio. They got along fairly well but parted because Marcena was on her way to school in Michigan and Al was taking his mother and sister to North Carolina to visit Marahelen, his oldest sister. When they were introduced for a third time in Oct. 1950 by Audrey and John Amstutz, they grew close quickly and were married 5 weeks and 2 days later.

Dad insisted upon the short courtship, because he had been strung along for 5 years in a previous engagement in California, making him decide that the opposite was better. He moved into my mother's apartment in Hamilton, Ohio. He was employed as a floor sander by his brother Bob at the time. I have pay stubs in 1953 when he was making about $70.00 a week working for his brother. When Bob moved to Columbus, OH to become a home builder, Mom offered her teacher's retirement fund to help him buy the floor sanding business. He was known for his high-quality work, but it was a very strenuous job. He too desired to become a home builder.

We moved from Hamilton, Ohio to Columbus, Ohio in about 1964 so that he could try his hand at home building. His brother, Warren, helped to teach him the ropes. He became known for his well-designed quality custom homes. He was the first builder to introduce the Spanish style home to Columbus for the middle-class home owner. He called his houses "Pacesetter Homes". This was often the case as many Columbus houses were copied after his. My favorites of his were these Spanish homes with court yards and his beautiful contemporaries. Al Coate was the chairman of the (Columbus) Parade of Homes in 1970 when it was located at the Gables Subdivision near Godown and Bethel Roads. (DOC-C:) The fact that he was one of 5 brothers, all connected to the Home Building Industry in Columbus, Ohio is noted in a BIA newsletter in 1972. (DOC-C:) Many of his homes are featured in newspaper articles that are in my Coate Document files. If the court house deed records are checked it will be evident that we lived in many of these houses while I was growing up. Our homes were always just one more of his houses that were for sale. It kept the money flowing in those days. All in all, it was an enjoyable experience.

My father was a very creative person. He used oils to paint nature and still life scenes. Many of his paintings are spread throughout the family. He gave both my brother and I lessons in oil painting. He loved to bake deserts. He won first prize for a raspberry cake of his own creation in a Columbus Dispatch cooking contest. He truly enjoyed traveling and was fun to travel with. He claimed to have visited all but 5 of the states in the U.S. and most fondly remembers his trips to Japan after World War II and to Europe with my mother on a BIA tour. He loved playing games and working puzzles with us throughout our lives. I remember a Christmas with great fondness where he bought thousands of beads and Styrofoam balls and we all sat around in the evenings making ornaments which decorated our tree that year. He enjoyed photography. He was a self-taught piano player, and would sit down on the piano and play a couple tunes from memory over the years. He grew roses and gained great pleasure telling us their names, buying new ones annually until his last year of life and having fresh cut flower arrangements in his home throughout each summer. My brother and I both continue this tradition.

My father sadly spent his last 20 plus years in retirement in poor health. He lived two years longer than his ancestor, Marmaduke Coate. He had paid $149,575.98 in Social Security in his lifetime from 1937-1977. He was an avid storyteller, much like his mother was. He had the wonderfully friendly nature of his father. He luckily got to see two of his grandchildren grow to near adulthood and see his youngest grandson grow to age 5. They were a significant source of pleasure for him. His encyclopedia like memory of the Coate family history which went back to Marmaduke Coate was what originally interested me in learning about our family tree.

He once started a biographical story of his life which is included herein, short but sweet. "The first time that I can recall occurred when I was only one year old. (I say recall, for I am not sure whether it is actual memory or a picture instilled in my mind by oft told stories.) We lived in Amanda, a little town of a hundred or so souls about two miles south of Middletown, Ohio. It was a little white frame house across the road from the brick school house. Mom and Dad had been married only a few years, and the only other child in the family was my sister, Marahelen, two years older than I. Dad worked in the mill as Armco Steel was known locally. Dad had a spring wagon pulled by an old white horse, as our only means of transportation. There was a great commotion with people milling around the old horse, who lay dying. She had just been shot after having fallen in a gravel pit and broken her leg. We have a picture of my sister Marahelen and I sitting on the back of the old critter, both looking scared to death, with me hugging her for dear life.

Dad had bought the animal with the belief that she was a spirited animal, but the story goes that within a short time she ran out of spirit and energy, as well, and was really quite a tired and almost listless creature; apparently she had been doped and the effect had worn off. She did show some spirit one day, when Mom decided to drive old Dolly over to the mill to pick up Dad when he got off work... So she loaded up us two kids in the spring wagon and hitched up Dolly and took off. Mom having been brought up in the city (Dayton) was not accustomed to driving a horse. A passing train frightened old Dolly and she took off running. The more Mom pulled on the reigns and the more she screamed, the faster the horse ran, it seemed. At any rate when they passed the gate of the mill, Dad stood there with mouth agape while Mom and we kids streamed by all yelling and waving for help. A passerby succeeded in grabbing the reigns and bringing old Dolly to a halt some half mile down the road. Dad was a country boy, having been born and raised on a farm near Ludlow Falls, Ohio in Miami County, where his Quaker ancestors had settled a century earlier, but that is another story.

So, dad within inherited instincts was a man of the soil, and always had a garden as long as he lived. There in Amanda, he raised several acres of truck garden. What they could not eat Mom canned or sold in Middletown. Dad would start out in a summer morning with a wagon load of sweet corn, or roasting ears as we called them shucking them through the streets calling out his wares. He started out selling them at a dime a dozen but as the day wore on, he reduced the price to a nickel to dispose of it all. Oft times he had company or help from my Uncle Albert Stevens, Mom's brother (born on the same day as Dad) or my Uncle Harry Ritter, husband of Mom's sister, Keturah. Many times on the week end Uncle and Aunt Stell or Uncle Harry and Aunt Keturah spent the weekends with us. They had great old times with the women in the kitchen cooking up feasts while the men folks had eating contests trying to out-do another in consuming the greatest amount of fried chicken or number of roasting ears.

They tell me I was slow in learning to walk, being almost two before I took off on my own two feet. Apparently, I could travel on my bottom at considerable speed by pulling one leg along and dragging the other under me. They said I followed my dad everywhere that way right through the vegetable patch. Then One Day (Mom) said that she was tired of that kid scooting on his rear. She vowed she would get me to walk that day. So, she took me across the road to the school yard, and sure enough she brought me back walking on my own. "

This is but a sample of the many stories he told. In fact, telling stories of his memories was by far what he enjoyed most. That is why it was a major theme of the Eulogy about him written and presented by his grand-daughter, Amber Dudick at age 15: "I'll always remember his stories; the stories of past years, innocent days, cold winters and warm summers, starry skies, interesting neighbors, and of family and friends that he so cherished. These stories are each a step of his life, some tiny steps, baby steps, describing the smallest detail of a moment, others large steps, leaps from place to place that carry you through the adventure of his life. These steps brought him through the years, the years which were as unpredictable as the wind. But that's life, surviving each and every thing that comes around the corner. Albert Coate, he was a survivor. He lived 86 long years filled with blessings and also with sorrows. We all are here for some reason. We all are here because Albert Coate touched each and every one of us in some way. We will each take a piece of him with us wherever we may go. I will take the memory of a grandfather, one that was caring, kind, and whose mind was filled with passions and hope and dreams and those same stories that I will always remember. He will always be the man, the husband, the father, the brother, the uncle, the grandfather, the cousin, the friend, the cook, the painter, the architect, the linguist, the florist, the dreamer, and the memory that I will always cherish and hold in the depths of my heart and soul. To him, wherever he may be now, I send my utmost respect, my gratitude, and most of all my love. It will never be the same without him. In a way, it's almost ironic, that the stories he told will be the stories we all tell to our children and our friends, and those same stories will be what makes him immortal. May the story of Albert E. Coate have no end."(Written and presented by Amber Dudick, his 15-year-old grand-daughter, for his funeral celebration.)

Albert married Marcena Irene CLARK on 3 Nov 1950 in Butler, Ohio, USA. Marcena (daughter of William Edward CLARK and Grace EVANS) was born on 1 Mar 1916 in Rio Grande, Gallia, OH; died on 17 Sep 2019 in Delaware, Delaware, Ohio, USA; was buried in Westerville, Franklin County, Ohio, United States of America. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

My father remembers that they moved from Middletown, OH to northern Indiana to work the onion fields for a summer and then moved back to Piqua, Ohio where Ben was born.

He graduated from Trenton High School, in Trenton, Ohio during the depression. He then joined the CCC. When the depression was waning, he became a student at Ohio State University. He was a member of a Fraternity there. He completed two years at OSU before being drafted into World War II. Ben achieved the rank of Sergeant in the U.S. Army Air Corps. He was a member of the East Columbus Lion's Club and the National Kitchen Cabinet Association. He was the founder and owner of the Formitex Plastic Fabricators and Coate Floor Co.

He is remembered by friends and family as a very hard worker, someone with a lot of spunk, who spoke up for the underdog and showed no prejudice for any of his fellow man. He was a great supporter of his church, St. Andrew Christian Church in Dublin, Ohio. (C-1779, Obit.)

Benjamin married Virginia BRIGHTWELL about 1941. Virginia was born on 26 Feb 1917 in Wheelersburg, Scioto, Ohio, USA; died on 16 May 2002 in Columbus, Franklin, OH, USA; was buried on 20 May 2002 in Blendon Central Cemetery, Westerville, Franklin, OH, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Bob was born in Middletown and raised in Trenton, Ohio. Bob was remembered by his brother Richard as the "true diplomat of the family. ... he was gentle by nature, and slow to anger. A shrewd business man, he started out in the floor sanding business, but moved to Columbus to go into the home building business. Achieving great success in a short time, he was highly respected by a vast array of friends and business acquaintances. As a boy scout he was elected to join a throng of scouts in a trip to Washington where they would have been greeted by President Roosevelt. The trip was canceled, however, due to a polio outbreak. Bob loved to raise chickens and ducks. When we were kids, Dad constructed a pond in the side yard. What's a pond without ducks? So Bob began raising them to fill the void. We all enjoyed them. However, I'm sure Bob never forgot the day I roasted a couple of his duckling in the oven.

A pre-schooler, my attention span was not all that great. I'd exhausted the poor little things in the pond. Having witnessed what Bob did with the duckling shortly after they were hatched I decided I'd do the same thing to dry them out. I still remember Bob's surprise and outrage at what I'd done. However, given my age and remorse for what I'd done, I was forgiven. ...I never went near his ducklings after that! ...

He married Mary Musselman, his high school sweetheart. Though he was drafted, his tour of duty in the army in World War II was foreshortened due to Mary's health. They were surely proud parents of Caroline and Donny. Caroline, as you know died shortly after her father passed.

One thing Betty and I recall with fond memories - Warren and Bob bought a farm somewhere northeast of Columbus. Warren could tell you where it was located. The pre-Civil war log house was situated on 165 acres of pure bliss. The Coate family used it for reunions until it was sold. So when I look at the photo of the farmhouse, I'm always reminded of the good times! You probably remember it!" With great fondness, I and my uncles and family that met there on many occasions certainly do remember it.

According to Bob's brothers, Warren and Richard, Bob's death was due to a reaction to the type of anesthesia that was administered during a gall bladder surgery compounded by previous reactions to his recent dental surgery. His liver was not able to process all of it. (C-1782)

Robert married Mary Jane MUSSELMAN on 3 Sep 1938 in Covington, Kenton, KY, USA. Mary (daughter of Floyd MUSSELMAN and Hilda Grace MEHL) was born on 26 Feb 1920 in Middletown, Butler, OH, USA; died on 19 Jul 1997 in Fort Myers, Lee, FL, USA; was buried on 26 Jul 1997 in Anderson Funeral Home, Reynoldsburg, Franklin, OH, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Charles was a partner in the Coate Floor Company with his brother Ben. He was a member of Eagles Lodge 2801 at Buckeye Lake. He was a former member of East Columbus Lions. Charles was married for about six months in 1940 to a woman whose surname is not remembered. They lived 2 houses down from his parents house on John St. in Trenton, Ohio. (C-2108) In 1945, he married Jane, his wife of many years and mother of his children. He was a very caring husband to Jane in her last years after she suffered disabilities from a stroke. (C-72) His kindness was returned by his third wife, Wilma, and his sons and daughters-in-law when liver cancer brought the end to his life. It was the same affliction that had taken his father.

Charles lived on Buckeye Lake in Ohio the last several years of his life. He loved to fish and boat. He spent many of his last days enjoying the view from his home. (C-1397) He had several children and grandchildren listed in his obituary that I can't place. Listed with his sons was a David Howell married to Jeri. Listed as stepsons were Carl Dittoe and Darl Dittoe married to Sally and Joanna respectively.

The following lengthy letter to Charles from his brother, Richard, tells a great deal about this family's life. "Richard Coate Brooklyn, NY 11201July 12, 1997

Dear Brother Charles, You'll have to forgive me for the delay in writing this letter. I came down with a case of bronchitis which put me behind schedule. However, the antibiotic has knocked most of it out of my system so I'm doing my best to catch up. I'm sorry that neither Betty or I can be with Shirley when she visits you in Ohio. She's going to spend a couple days with us before she flies to Columbus. She'll get here on Wednesday evening, the 16th and leave on Saturday morning the 19th. She'll get a whirlwind tour of some of the highlights in the neighborhood and Manhattan on Thursday. Friday we'll make a trip up to Jennifer's in Dutchess County. As you know she lives way out in the country surrounded by farm land. The Shenandoah mountain is on the distant horizon - so Shirley will be able to see Jennifer and Joe, their beautiful 175 year old, nine room house and some of the scenic wonders of NY State while she's here.

You have been much on our minds and in our prayers since we got the news of your illness. Betty and I began reflecting upon our childhood and our life in Trenton when our families were all together.

Though the town has changed much in the ensuing years, I still retain the images of what it was way back in the '30s when the population was only 350 and we were kids. Remember taking baths in a wash tub in the kitchen? Norman Rockwell would have had a ball, Mom standing over one of us, with the next in line waiting turn. That was way back when the House of The Seven Smokes was still standing. I don't know about you, but Warren, Bill and I did a lot of foraging around in that abandoned and very spooky building.

I'm glad Daddy had to the sense to get some of the flooring before it was completely demolished. The downstairs of 113 John Street had wide-planked highly-polished ash floors as a result of it. I still remember the Amish rigs on Hamilton Pike and the Model-T Fords, and little Wally Poplin climbing the water-tower, the whole town holding its breath until someone finally rescued him!

Remember the short cut to school through Adam Gozie's corn field. One day he lay in wait, caught me just as I was about to climb the fence onto John Street. Talk about surprise! He booted me in the butt so hard that I peed in my pants. Once he hoisted me over the fence and released his grip I was off and running. Though he spewed out a string of invective I was so terrified couldn't understand a word of it. But I sure did get the gist of it! It was a long, long time before I got up enough nerve to take that short cut again.

After growing up in a rural town like that way back before any of us ever heard of television, who could ever have imagined that in our lifetime there would be such technological wonders as Internet or American scientists landing on the moon, and exploring Mars or the moons of Jupiter! That was "Flash Gordon" or "Buck Rogers" funny paper stuff. And remember the fuss we made over who would be first to read the funnies and we'd all wind up sprawled on the floor with them spread out before us.

Remember those hot summer days when everything seemed to be at a standstill and the long treks we made to the gravel pit to cool off - sometimes twice a day. We'd sometimes stop at the gas station by the railroad tracks opposite the old Scheibert house [where Betty lived before their house was moved up to John Street opposite ours] and if we could afford it we'd buy a coke in one of those glass bottles and pause long enough to drink it while the station attendants went about their business with their attention glued to the baseball game on the radio. And when the train passed through one could hear its whistle all over town.

The gravel pit - now that was a swimming hole! Spring fed no less. If my memory serves me right, wasn't it also stocked with cat fish? I know we caught cat fish from somewhere around Trenton. I believe Mom used to make a batter of corn meal, dip them into it before she plopped them in that big black iron skillet full of lard atop the blue porcelain two oven Kalamazoo wood stove. If the smell of frying cat fish didn't make your mouth water, nothing would.

Talk about kitchen smells. Monday was wash day. Soap suds and beans. One day was ironing day and Mom had stacks of clean smelling linen on the back porch. I'll never forget how it felt to climb into bed and sleep on a freshly washed, sun-dried and hand- ironed sheet. Whoever heard of ironing a sheet these days? One day was house cleaning day, and Mom would put those lace doilies on the sofa and we had to pay special care that we didn't muss them up. Since she raised nine of us, it's a measure of the respect we had for her that those doilies remained in place and unruffled. . Or baking days. Remember how the house smelled when we came home after school. Every surface in the kitchen was filled with baked goods. Golden crusted loaves of bread, big buns, sugar rolls with cinnamon and vanilla icing, doughnuts dipped in powdered sugar! Pies and cakes!

Then there was canning season - the aroma of strawberry jam mixed with the melted wax. The smell of the dinner before we all sat down around the kitchen table. There was many a day when Bill and I would race across the field in time to tune in on an episode of Little Orphan Annie before we sat down to dinner. And on special days we'd have bread pudding for desert. To this day I have never tasted a bread pudding that can match Mom's! And I'll never forget the day that Mom put a big pan of it atop the buffet to cool. Only after Mom had accused everyone else in the house of eating the whole pan full did Daddy finally confess! When he came home there was no one around so he took one look at it and said, "For once in my life I'm going to get my full of bread pudding!" And he did!

Then there were the times on those long summer nights when we played kick the can out under the street light, and in winter we made walnut fudge on top the blue Kalamazoo coal burning stove. Fudge has never tasted as good since! I remember the time that Daddy fell asleep in his living room rocking chair with his jaw agape. Bill and I decided we'd play a joke on him so we ran to the kitchen, got the pepper shaker and sprinkled it on his tongue. We were long gone when he awakened, sputtering and spitting. I don't know if we ever confessed, but this much I know, he never let on that anything unusual ever happened after we finally got nerve enough to go back into the house.

Remember the day that you had that unfortunate encounter with the skunk in the fields to the rear of the house. The creature was concealed in the hedge row near the Seeman farm when you attempted a short cut - just waiting for some wayward kid to challenge his turf! Talk about stink! You called to Mom from the back yard and she made you change clothes and take a bath either outside or on the back porch before you were permitted to come in the house. After that day a Coate kid would make a wide and respectful circle around that hedge row.

And on summer nights, the dazzling array of fireflies hovering over the cornfields; we were mesmerized at the wonder of it and even the distant sound of the train whistle of the Baltimore and Ohio passing through at the other end of town did not break the spell. .Though I doubt that I was born yet or if I was I was too little to remember, but the story was told me so many times it's as if I had witnessed the event myself. Ben and his buddy, George Crug were "camping out" in a pup tent in the alley to the rear of the house - below that wild cherry tree we used to climb. Ben and George had bedded down and settled in for the night - just this side of the fence separating them from the Holtzer cornfield. Awakened by a weird sound and some rustling - Wooooooo ..... Woooooooo! - not unlike the ones Mom used to make when she told us ghost stories - they peeped out of the pup tent flap to investigate when they saw this white figure prancing about between rows of corn, waving its arms about like it was about to take off. Bug-eyed, too paralyzed to move, they stared at the ghost until George finally gathered enough nerve to make a wild dash to his own home to retrieve his BB gun. Returning with a determination to send the phantom back to the place from whence it came, he peppered Dad with two BB shots and was about to fire the third when Dad began raising such a ruckus that George's hair must have stood straight up on his head. Sure that he had all but killed Ben's father, George dropped the gun and made a dash for the Crug home without so much as "I thought you were -" or "I didn't mean to shoot you, Mr. Coate, honest!" George was a stranger to the Coate household for quite some time after that. Fortunately a brass button on Dad's overalls right over his heart deflected one BB while the other was lodged in his chest where it remained until he died. [Note Given Charles' condition at the time I wrote the letter, I couldn't include this During the grave site ceremonies at Woodlawn Cemetery in Middletown, Ohio, just before Mom was laid to eternal rest beside Dad, the minister reminisced, reminding us all of the good times we had with Mom and Dad when we were all kids in our home on John Street in Trenton. The elderly gentleman at the fringe of the large crowd who was sobbing with grief at her passing was George Crug.]

Remember how proud we all were when the Eagle Scout in the family, brother Bob was selected to go with a group all the way to Washington, D. C. to shake President Roosevelt's hand - and the disappointment we all felt when the trip was canceled due to a polio outbreak. Was Dad ever proud of his family!

Though we were poor, our family was always rich in spirit. Though we didn't always have chicken we did have wild rabbit. I wasn't old enough to carry a gun but I'd sometimes tag along for the adventure of the hunt.. I remember we'd get up early, bundle up to brace the early morning chill. Puffing steam, we'd trek over the frosted, frozen turf in the fields to the rear of the house. But I had my share of skinning rabbits. In freezing weather they were sometimes strung up from the eaves of the garage.

Most of all I remember our holidays. Holidays at the Coate house on John Street were always festive, and Mom always said that we had the most beautiful Christmas Tree in Trenton. And I still believe it!

Remember the Billy goat that climbed atop the chicken house roof to butt us off if we didn't pay attention. And the time a bunch of us were gathered outside in the driveway in front of the garage cleaning and repairing bicycles. Shirley, a preschooler, gulped a glass of coal oil thinking it was water. "Look, Shirley's making bubbles" I exclaimed. When Albert realized what she had done, he grabbed her and carried her to the street, yelling at the driver in the passing car to stop! Stop! She was rushed to Dr. Dobbs and he got her to vomit it all up.

Or the time that Shirley fainted on the roller coaster at Lesourdsville Lake and as they carried her around the lake to the aid station - a crowd followed believing she had drowned. As late as 1992 Shirley told me that when she awakened in the arms of the man who was carrying her she decided to faint all over again and fell limp in his arms. I suspect she kept fainting as long as she had an audience - or at least until she was safely inside the aid station.

I remember the time that I was taking a bottle of Fuzzy Weir's root beer out of our coolerater. When it exploded in my hand and I thought for sure I'd lost a thumb. Off to Dr. Dobbs, this time the short cut through Adam Gozie's corn field. I still have the scar on my thumb. I'll never forget the bus trip that Mom and I took during WW II to Ashville, N. C. to visit Marahelen and Charles. The bus was so crowded that Mom sat on my lap. As we rounded those dangerous curves of the Smoky Mountain roads a mountaineer played his guitar and we all sang, "She'll be comin' round the mountain when she comes!"

And we all remember our summer vacations with Marahelen and Charles and the wonderful times we had at family gatherings at Uncle Robert and Aunt Margaret's deer hunting cabin in the mountains outside Ashville. What a retreat! And the time we went mountain hiking and Mom very coolly stepped over a rattle snake without so much as a blink. About a half mile below the cabin - diving off the rocks into the cold mountain stream - always on the outlook for water moccasin. And summer vacations on Aunt Mamie and Uncle Joe McKinley's farm in Piqua, Ohio or the Sunday afternoon visits when Aunt Mamie and Mom cooked up those big dinners of fresh farm produce and home baked bread in a brick oven. Ah, the aroma emanating from the kitchen!

And in the depths of the depression, the Christmas we celebrated at Aunt Martha's in Dayton when Uncle Godfrey played Santa to us wide-eyed kids. What a joyous Christmas that was! And speaking of Aunt Martha, I'll never forget the time I sucked in on a whistle when I was supposed to blow out and swallowed the darn thing. Poor Aunt Martha was beside herself with indecision when she grabbed me by the ankles, turned me upside down and bumped my head on the floor hoping I'd cough it up.

Remember when Billy won the prize for best costume at the Halloween Carnival a couple years in a row. Especially the "Tin Man" from the "Wizard Of Oz " he made from flattened tin cans. Bill could also spin a yarn which would have impressed Will Rogers. Was he ever proud when he won him first prize in the Trenton High School Comedy Hour. Of course we all remember the story about Shirley's mishap when her prom date accidentally killed the stray mule which wandered in front of his car on the fog-bound country road somewhere outside Cincinnati. Despite the smashed windshield, neither were hurt. But imagine the shock on Mom's face when, near dawn the next morning, the terrified young boy escorted a disheveled Shirley to the front door, her beautiful yellow chiffon gown splattered with the blood of the poor creature.

And remember the WW II years - when I led the 1943 Memorial Day parade carrying the American flag as we marched through the main streets of town ending up at the knoll overlooking the main intersection for the unveiling and dedication of the WW II Honor Board listing the names of the Trenton military personnel serving their country. And in 1944 when Mom got the dreaded telegram from the President of The United States informing her that Warren was Missing In Action after the D-Day landing. We waited and prayed and gathered around the radio hoping to hear of any news about the Army division with which he served. And finally our prayers were answered when we received a letter from Warren to let us know he was OK. Warren's future wife, Helen Schenck, living with us all through the war years, sharing our anxiety. Remember when Mom used to accompany your kid brother, Dick, on the piano with a resounding version of Turkey In The Straw when he danced black-face in the amateur "Major Bowles" contests as far away as Oxford or Dayton, Ohio. Who could have imagined that this amateur hour contestant would grow up to be Richard Coate, the actor who was among the pioneers of that new broadcast medium, Television, when, in 1948 he appeared on a series on WLW TV in Columbus, Ohio - during his years as a student at OSU - before he became the Korean War rifleman in silhouette in an AP photograph which was destined to attain iconic status, a symbol of American fighting forces in Korea, and a unique place in Cold War history.

I remember that little house on Miami Street that you and Jane lived when some of your kids were born. It was built on a hill and as I recall you had to step down into the kitchen. I didn't think they could make them any smaller until Betty and I moved to New York. Our kitchen on Willow Street here in Brooklyn Heights was little more than a closet - but, like Jane and our mothers, Betty cooked up a storm.

Betty and I recall stopping off at your house to watch television and have a beer - before I was inducted into the army and my tour of duty in Korea. By then we were in college and barring the three summers I spent at home before graduation, I never lived in Trenton again. I really enjoyed the 50th anniversary of our graduating class held at the Manchester Hotel. Class of '44! I hadn't seen most of them since then. We laughed so hard at the stories we had to tell on one another that the young newspaper reporter covering the event was amazed that so many "old folk" had so much life in 'em.

Give our love to Wilma. I'm happy I was able to finally meet her in North Carolina at Marahelen's funeral. She fits right into the family.

Betty sends her love too,
Your brother, Richard"

Charles married Hilda Jane FINK on 29 Dec 1945. Hilda was born on 12 Feb 1917; died on 1 Feb 1990 in Columbus, Franklin, OH; was buried about 4 Feb 1990 in Glen Rest Cemetery, Columbus, Franklin, OH, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Barbara MAYS. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Wilma UNKNOWN. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Warren was in some of the worst battles in World War II. For most of his life, he could not bring himself to discuss the war at all. Reunions with old war buddies eventually helped him open up on the subject. He was one of 9 who survived out of 125 men in Hurtingken Forest. He was in the Utah Beach invasion, 8th Infantry/ 4th Division under Sgt. Dagastina. He was at Omaha Beach eleven days after D-Day and saw all the tanks and trucks languishing in the water from the orginal battle. He was at the liberation of Paris where he had his first taste of champaigne. Crowds of thousands were throwing flowers and tomatoes as thanks. Women were throwing themselves on the soldiers. Half of his division went AWOL for up to a week there was so much celebrating going on. As they left town, the celebrating throngs of people thinned out. As the third plattoon passed, they were attacked and 33 more men died. His plattoon was the last to pass. They were fighting the Germans and pushing them back as they went. His regiment took Orley Fields outside of Paris. Some of the incindental stories he related was his remembrance of the cans of celery soup that heated themselves when you opened them with phosphorous. When they entered the town of Schubers, the soldiers were given cigarettes and chocolate to throw up to the residents to let them know the Americans had arrived and the Germans were gone. He received hearing damage on about July 24th when they had captured some Germans. There were so few men left, that they had 1 man per fox hole. He was almost shelled when trying to go the restroom. Warren jumped into a ditch to avoid the shells and hit face down into a German latrine. The incident left him with hearing loss.

After the war, Warren attended Ohio State University on the GI Bill as a young man, but dropped out when he married Helen. They were the aunt and uncle on my Dad's side that I was closest to growing up. He was a homebuilder by trade. Years ago, he was a partner with his brother, Bob Coate. I believe their business was called Bob Coate Builders. I have a flyer from his current business, Coate Homes, North Carolina., in the Coate document file. They taught my father this business when we moved from Fairfield, Ohio to Columbus. (C-537, 1779, 2457)

Warren married Helen Elizabeth SCHENCK on 20 Aug 1948. Helen (daughter of Roy V. SCHENCK and Laura Helen UNKNOWN) was born on 12 Oct 1920 in Trenton, Butler, OH, USA; died on 5 Sep 2002 in Hospice, Newark, , OH, USA; was buried on 9 Sep 2002 in Blendon Central Cemetery, Westerville, Franklin, OH, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

My Uncle Richard was a most creative soul. He was an actor, playwright, and author throughout his adulthood. He began his love in the drama field as a young child when his mother would take him around to perform in minstrel shows. She would play the piano and he would sing and dance.

He later went to acting school and was considered their most promising student. He was once the lead in a Broadway play but otherwise had less prominent parts. He also wrote screenplays that were considered by major Actors at the time. He many fascinating, successful actresses and actors as friends. He was the kind of Uncle we would all brag about.

He married his childhood friend, Betty Scheibert. They were an exemplary couple whose love seemed to grow stronger through the years. They lived in New York City for most of their adult lives. Betty was a graphic artist for industrial applications. She had had polio as a child. It left her crippled. It didn't stop her from doing anything. Uncle Richard told me often about the time she climbed up a cliff at Highbanks, a park here in Columbus when they were both going to Ohio State University. He was so proud of her. They had a daughter, Jennifer, who became a famous photographer for the March of Dimes. She had the honor of photographing two of our American President's families in the Whitehouse in her career.

Uncle Richard was a sensitive soul called into service in the Korean War. He had many after-effects from that service that took him years to heal from. He was a profuse writer to his wife, Betty. He believed these letters were the basis for the long-running T.V. show called "Mash". His silhouette was captured by a photographer in the doorway of a hut in this war that was used by the AP press and published in many national papers.

He used this photo as the front cover of an autobiography he published about him and his wife, their families, and the town they grew up in. It's called "The Unidentified Soldier in the USO Poster". It can be purchased at Xlibris.com.

Richard married Elizabeth (Betty) Louise SCHEIBERT on 2 Sep 1950 in Franklin, Ohio, USA. Elizabeth was born on 31 Jul 1926 in Middletown, Butler County, Ohio, United States of America; died on 13 Mar 2004 in Brooklyn, Kings County (Brooklyn), New York, United States of America; was buried on 5 Jun 2004 in Woodside Cemetery, Middletown, Butler, OH, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Bill, known as "Wild Bill" was a talented carpenter, often working on construction sites, even in large skyscrapers. Specifically, he was a union carpenter with the Southwestern Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters, Local 113. He did a lovely job of restoring old homes that he purchased, lived in and sold. His birth place according to his older siblings was Middletown, Ohio but was Trenton according to his children as per his funeral card and obituary. He graduated from Trenton High School in 1948 and was a member of the Yankee Road First Church of God near his death. He will be remembered by me for his good nature and large smile. He loved to tell stories and enjoyed his family.

Family/Spouse: Phyllis Fay BIRCH. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Barney WEST. Barney (son of Cecil WESTERBERG and Blanche MORRISON) was born on 8 Sep 1918 in Seattle, Washington, USA; died on 6 Apr 1981 in Greenbrae, , CA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

This is a letter that son Dale sent to his cousin Richard Coate about Dale's parents. Dated June 2003 "The address of the farm at the time we lived there was R. R. 1 Arcanum, Ohio. I am not sure of the address now, since those county address have all been changed to road names and box numbers. The farm was forty-three acres of soybeans. In the early years we raised three or four dairy cows to have milk and butter. We had pigs to sell and for meat. We chickens for meat and eggs. We always had cars around the barn to keep the mice away. When I got older and joined 4H I raised pigs for my project for a couple of years and then for the rest of the years, I raised rabbits. At one point I had over forty rabbits at a time and sold them as pets and to a butcher for meat. Mother always had a big bed of flowers along the drive that was 130 feet long and 10 feet wide. She loved flowers and always had lots of arrangements in the house and gave flowers to friends and neighbors. She president of the local Garden Club for a couple of years. The thing that most of the relatives remember, was our huge garden. It was 200 feet long and thirty feet wide. Mother always had three plantings of sweet corn, so we would have it for the whole season. She had five plantings of lettuce. There were always twenty to forty tomato plants with three to as many as six different varieties. She always rows of green beans, pleas, red beats, potatoes, cabbages, and a whole variety of other vegetables, that changed as she found new things to try. To this day, I have never met anyone who worked as hard as my mother did. She got up at four o'clock in the morning and when to bed after the eleven o'clock news. Not only did she take care of her home and yard and garden, but she worked four days a week in Arcanum for The John Smith Company, in their grocery department from 1952 to 1968.Mother was also known all over the county for her baking ability. She made hundreds of pies and cakes and thousands of cookies for bakes sales, carry-in dinners, reunions, birthdays, and even a few weddings. Several local businessmen offered to set her up in a bakery, but that would have been too much for her. The Coate Family Reunions were always a high point of our year. My Dad built long tables to use for these events that were set up in our side yard under those big old maple trees. There was always a ton of food and a wonderful big crowd. We would play games and Mom's bake goods and produce would be the prizes. I think everyone had a great time. I know we did."

Family/Spouse: Helen M. NICHOLS. Helen was born on 8 Apr 1917; died on 7 Dec 1994 in Dayton, Montgomery, OH, USA; was buried on 10 Dec 1994 in Weaver Funeral Home, Dayton, Montgomery, OH, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Marylee GARIETY. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]