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Title
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Coates, Frederick
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extracted text
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P~· ~3.3
Rev. Frederick Coates
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Obituary
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HE Reverend Frederick Coates w;.s
born in H olbcach Parish, near Boston, L incolnshire, Engla nd, Dec. 6, 1846.
a nd passed to his eternal home, NoY. 25,
1933. He lacked eleven days of bein"
eig hty-sc,·cn years of age. ·
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Frederick Coates was the son of Rev.
J oseph and Mary Proctor Coates. His
father was a Methodi st min ister and a
member of the 1.fcthod ist Protestant Confc~cnce. The young mother taught Fredenck to read the New Testament which
he said was his prime r. T he family altar
was fa ithfu lly kept . T he g ra ndparents on
both sides were Methodists. F rede rick's
conYc r sion at the age of sixteen was clear
and glorious.
Frederick and hi s brother, Charles, came
to :\merica in 1865, locat ing in Ann Arbor.
~Iich. Two years lat er a younger brothe r
J oseph, joined th em. In 1869, the fa the;
and mother with the two sisters and th e
youngest broth er came from England, locating nca r Grand Diane.
Frederick worked for some time and
then came to Flint, where he a ttended the
high school. He was a member of "The
Class of the Early Sc,·cnties,'' an alumni
organiza tion w hose members now arc few.
Early in his Christ ian experience Fred,· rick fe lt a clear and definit e call to preach
the Gospel. He went to school to become
bette r prepared for his chosen work. H e
was licensed a loca l preacher by; the Grand
Blanc quarterly conference. In 1874 he
joined the Detroit Conference a nd-without avocation-preac hed for forty-three
years. Bishop Berry, Rev. N. G. Lyons,
Re,·. L. )J. 1Iqon, Rev. H . Nankervis and
R c,·. I saac \Vi lcox were ordain ed it; t he
same class.
T
REV. FREDERICK COATES
On August I, 1875, Brother Coates was
united in marriage to Miss Carrie Spencer,
a school teacher and a devoted Christian .
~h e h~s been his fa ith fu l companion fo r
fif ty-etght years, and a g reat help to h im
in the Christian work. To them were born
three children : \Villiam Spencer Coa tes
Francis Asbury Coa tes, and Mrs. Bell~
Roc peke.
\Vhile at school in F lint he attended
the Cent ral :.lcthodist church, then known
as the Ga rland S treet church. The pastor
wa s Rev. \.Yilliam F ox, a man of whom
Vr. )· . ;.[. A rnold wrote in the Michigan
Chnsttan Ad,·o~:a te: " he led more souls
to Ch rist than any othe r man in the Detroit Conference." Brother Fox had a
great influence in molding the min isteria l
life of ~ h e youn g preacher. T hey were
g reat f ncnd s. :.rr. Fox officia ted at M r.
Coa tes' wedding, baptized his first child
and was hi s fi rst presiding elde r. Hi~
second presiding elder was Rev. I. N. Elwood, w ho was also a g reat help a nd
iitspi rat ion to him.
Brother Coates had a great passion for
souls. Glorious rc,·i,·als were held on almost every charge. The financial interests
were well adYanccd. His work was based
o~ spiritual lines for the upbuilding of the
kmgdom. He was a spiritual leader a nd
th rough his efforts many souls were in-·
flu enccd to live Christian lives.
Sixteen years ago he retired from actiYe
service, but he remain ed an in spiration t'.)
all with w hom he came in contac t. F ive
Y?ars ag_o . he returned to Flint to spend
hts rcmam mg days ncar his early home.
Besides hi s wife and three child ren he
is survived by seven g ra ndchildren; two
brothers, J oscph Coates of Flint, ]. Procto r Coates of T oledo; and one sister, Mr~.
E llen Pennington of F erndale ; a lso several
ni eces and nep hews.
Fun eral scrYiccs were held Tuesday aftern oon, Nov. 28, at the residence, 2701
Lapeer stree t, F lint, in charge of the Rev.
H azen G. \.Vern er, pastor of the Court
Street Methodis t Episcopal church as sisted by Dr. D unn ing Idle, supc rintc;tdent
of the F lint di strict; Rev. H. A. L eeson
pastor of the Trinity Methodist church:
R ev. D. C. Littl ejohn, pastor o f Centrai
Me_thodist chu rch, and Rev. George Tripp,
asststan t pastor o f Lincoln Park 1fcthodist church. The se rvice was largelv
a ttended. Visiting clergymen were: Re~.
C. E. Hi ll, Rev. F . C. ·wattcrs, Re,·. H enrv
Schofield, all of Flint, and Rev. N.H. Kar~
of Lapeer. 1Ir. vVaync Whipple sang
"Rock of Ages." Six nephews of the deceased, Arthur J. Coates, Charles P.
Coates, Fred 11. Coates, and George H .
Coates, all of F lin t; P roctor Coates, of
P onti ac, and George C. Day, o f Port
Huron, were bea rers. Int e rm ent was in
£,·erg rccn cemete ry.
Missionaries Honored
On Fiftieth Anniversaries
Rev. a nd Mr s. A. B. Coates were honored by Cent r al Methodist Church, P ont iac, on t he fiftie th a nniver sar y of t heir
wedding, missionary service t o India,
a nd ministry. They wer e married in an
annual session of th e Bombay Conference a nd served in Ind ia under t h e Boa rd
of F oreig n i\'1 issions for twenty-four
years. T hey now res ide in Pontiac a nd
attend Central Church. T heir anniversar y occurred December 20, but th ey
were honor ed by t heir church on the preceding S unday, December 15. Shown
wit h t he m is Cen tr al's pastor, Rev. Millon Harold Bank. / •
f -S"t
Mrs. Frederick Coates,
M . c .Jt .
:;..; cJ s 'f- 0 bituary
RS. CARRI E COATES, widow uf
Re\r. F rederick Coa tes, who was au
active mm1ste r in th e De t roi t Conferen ce
fo r ~ver fo rty-three years, died o n Christma !.l day at t he home of her d aug h ter, ·
:\[ rs. Belle Roepcke, in Flint.
Carrie S pence r was born in Canada,
October 16, 1856, t he eldest daught er ,1 f
Edwin and E llen Spencer. In 1858, t he
i ami ly moved to ?II ich igan and were amon:;
t he first sett lers in Lapee r county. T he
S pencer fam ily we re devoted Ch ristian.;
,who rea red a fami ly of six children who
ha\·e contribu ted much to M ichigan Meth od ism .
M rs. Coat es rece ived he r educatio n in
t he di st rict school, la te r a ttending hig h
school in A tt ica a nd I mlay City. F o r six
yea rs she taug ht !fehool in Lapeer county.
Converted a t an early age, "M rs. Coa t e ~
was a n ca m est Christian a nd an inspi ra tio n to all who ca me in contact wi th he:·.
On Aug-ust I, 1875, she was un ited in ma rriage to Rc\·. Frederick Coa tes, a young
mini ster o f the De troit Con ference, and
she was a fait hful helpmate du ring his '
lo ng year s of se rvice in th e m ini!.lt ry,
and a de\·oted wife a nd mot her. :. rro .
Coates took an a ctive part in all the
act ivi t ies of the church, bei ng espec ia lly
in terested in th e S unday School a nd !n
t he Depar tm ent fo r Yo ung People. During the pas torate at No rth B ranch, !.Irs.
Coates was a teacher o f a la rge cla ~s of
young people in th e B ible S chool. T hP.
members of t his cla ss presented Mrs.
Coa tes with a d iamo nd ring in apprecia t ion of her un tiring wo rk and personal Interes t in each member of the g rou p.
Se\·en . years ago Bro the r and S ister
Coates mo ved to F lint, mak in g their ho me
with their daug hte r. B roth e r Coa tes d ied
two years ago. ~Ir s. Coa tes' is sun·i\·ed
by t hree childre n, 'Willia m . pencer Coa tes
and l\[r!.l. Belle Hoepckc, of F lin t, :w<l
F rancis Asbury Coa tes. u f Sag inaw; scveu
gra ndchildre n an d three s is ters, Mrs.
:\fa ry Litt le, o f ~ [ c n o m i ue e; :Mrs. F.\ a
Buell , of Royal Oak; and !. f rs. W ill iam
l~ea m n. of Lapel' r.
Fun eral se rvices we re held at t he hon ac
o n S und ay, Dec 29, 1935, Rev. Georg•·
Tripp o fficia t in g. ." ix nephews of th e
deceased were hear ers. l nterment was in
Everg ree n cemetery in G ra nd lllanc~ ~ [i ch.
M
Coates, Frederick