Edward Eugene Coates

Edward Eugene Coates, 74, passed to his eternal home on September 27, 2008. A professor at Abilene Christian University since 1972, Ed and his wife Jane moved to Abilene to teach in the Education Department where they shared an office suite until Jane’s retirement. They celebrated 54 years of marriage this past May. Ed was a lifelong member of the Church of Christ and had served as a minister for more than 20 years with congregations in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Texas. A memorial service to honor Ed will be held 2 p.m., Sunday, October 5, 2008, at University Church of Christ in Abilene, Texas, under the direction of Piersall Benton Funeral Directors with Dr. Ed Enzor presiding.

Coates was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on September 4, 1934, to Dennis and Ruby Coates. At the age of twelve, he moved with his family to Troy, Tennessee, where he played football at Union City High School. While in high school, he served as state president of the 4-H Club. He graduated with a BS in Biology, Bible and Speech, from David Lipscomb in Nashville. There he met Jane, and lifelong friends, Ed Enzor and Ed Headrick. Ed completed his master’s degree from Middle Tennessee State University, and his doctorate from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in 1970. He was one of six doctoral students in the United States to be recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and have all of his doctoral work funded by the government.

During the seven years Ed preached at West End Church of Christ, he and Jane worked to make Knoxville Christian Schools a reality. From 1970 until 1972, he taught at Morehead State University in Kentucky. Coates then moved his family to Abilene to teach at ACU. He taught Educational Psychology among other classes for 36 years and officially retired August 31, 2008. Coates also maintained a Family Counseling Practice for more than 30 years.

Ed was an elder and counseling minister for Highland Church of Christ, assistant minister at Westgate Church of Christ and a gospel preacher for twenty years, most notably for the West End Church of Christ in Knoxville, Tennessee, and North Tennessee Boulevard Church of Christ in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. He counseled hundreds of individuals and families in the Abilene area. Ed and Jane have been members of the University Church of Christ in Abilene for several years.

He had been battling cancer and will be laid to rest in the family plot in Buffalo Gap Cemetery. He is survived by his wife, Jane. They had five children: Nathan, a trauma surgeon; Nancy, a home school teacher; Nick, a real estate developer; Nelson, a feature film designer and Neal, a lawyer and associate professor at ACU. Ed and Jane would frequently take their family to camp at Cades Cove in the Smokey Mountains National Park, with many camping trips to Myrtle Beach, the Florida Keys and throughout Texas. He was blessed with twenty-two grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Coates was preceded in death by his parents and his brother Jim, his son, Nathan Coates, M.D., and grandsons Isaac Coates, and Samuel Coates.

The Coates family wishes to thank Dr. Joseph and Mary Crumbliss for their many years of overwhelming kindness and support. Donations in Ed’s memory can be made to the Drs. Edward and Jane Coates ACU Endowed Scholarship fund, Box 29130, ACU Station, Abilene, Texas, 79699. Condolences may be offered to the family at:
www.pbfuneraldirectors.com