Pastor Fred A. Coates, age 93, of Gladstone passed away on Sunday, January 1, 2017 at the Christian Park Healthcare Center in Escanaba.
The family will receive friends on Saturday, January 14, from 2:00 PM to 3:45 PM at the Harbor Lights Church of God in Escanaba. Military Honors will be presented by the Gladstone American Legion Post 71. Funeral services will be at 4:00 PM.
A complete obituary will be forthcoming.
The Coates family is being assisted by the Skradski Funeral Home in Gladstone.
Pastor Fred A. Coates, age 93, of Gladstone passed away on Sunday, January 1, 2017 at the Christian Park Healthcare Center in Escanaba.
Fred was born July 31, 1923, the son of John and Sarah (Crothers) Coates. He grew up on the family farm near McMillan. He left home at the age of 16 and worked in garages in Detroit and Pontiac. He returned to the Upper Peninsula and went to work in Munising at Atlas Plywood before being drafted into the United States Army in 1942, the same year he married his wife, Irene Halley. Fred entered military service on Jan. 21, 1943, in Marquette, and completed basic training at Camp Davis in North Carolina. After training he shipped out to Europe where he served in England, France, and eventually landed on Omaha Beach three weeks after D-Day. He was honorably discharged in November of 1945. In 1952, after working an assortment of jobs, Fred moved his family back to Ohio where he obtained a job with Frigidaire. It was while he was living in Ohio that he became a born-again Christian in 1953 and felt God calling him into the ministry a year later. Still working at his regular job, Fred attended night classes at a Bible college in Dayton. He was ordained into the ministry and joined the Church of God in 1957. He was called to serve the Church of God in Gladstone in 1978. He also served numerous churches in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Lower Michigan for many years until he retired in 1997. Following his retirement, Fred volunteered as a Senior Companion with the MDS Community Action Agency for 15 years and was a campground host in Little Lake for 9 years. He was a member of the VFW and American Legion and was on the inaugural UP Honor Flight to Washington DC in 2011.
Fred is survived by his sons, Fred R. (Ann) Coates of Bicester, England and Derrell (Bobbi) Coates of Gladstone; his daughters, Lorraine Carter of Morris, GA and Beverly Kuzma of Boca Raton, FL; seven grandchildren, five great grandchildren and 1 great great granddaughter; his brother, Louie (Gloria) Coates of Lake Ann, MI and nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his wife, a grandson, Brandon Coates, his parents, a sister, Alice Groh and a brother, Harvey.
The family will receive friends on Saturday, January 14, from 2:00 PM to 3:45 PM at the Harbor Lights Church of God in Escanaba. Military Honors will be presented at 3:45 PM by the Gladstone American Legion Post 71 and the Army Honor Guard. Funeral services will be at 4:00 PM with Pastor Jon Hendry officiating. A luncheon will follow in the fellowship hall. Fred will be laid to rest in the West Lakefield Cemetery in McMillan, MI.