Earnest Franklin Coates' Obituary
Earnest Franklin Coates was born on May 26, 1935 in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. He was the seventh of eleven children born to the late Estella and Ernest Coates. Earnest departed this life on October 26, 2014 after a brief illness at Future Care of Chesapeake in Arnold, Maryland.
Earnest started his education in the Anne Arundel County Public Schools and graduated from Wiley H. Bates High School in 1955. He was drafted into the United States Air Force in 1959 and was honorably discharged in 1963. Earnest continued his education and received an Associates of Arts degree from Anne Arundel Community College.
Earnest started his career as a nurse at Spring Grove State Hospital in Catonsville, Maryland. He also worked as a Juvenile Counselor at the Children’s Center in Laurel, Maryland and the Cylburn Group Home in Baltimore, Maryland. Earnest was also a licensed Realtor.
Earnest was a devoted member of Wayman Good Hope A.M.E. Church. He was a diligent church worker and served faithfully as a member of the Trustee Board, Usher Board, the Willing Workers, and the Senior Choir. His favorite hymns were “Too Close To the Mirror” and “It Was A Great Thing.”
Earnest’s favorite hobbies were going to yard and estate sales and collection clocks. He loved shopping and had just purchased a new suit in anticipation of attending Homecoming Service. Earnest loved listening to Christian music and was an avid collector of gospel songs. He loved to cook and enjoyed entertaining family and friends. Earnest leaves a legacy of love, generosity, and devotion that will be sorely missed, but never forgotten.
Earnest was preceded in death by four sisters: Eleanor Matthews, Betty Ann Coates, Rosabel Day, and Goldie Collins and two brothers: Bernard Coates and Orlando Coates.
Earnest leaces to cherish his memory: one brother, Robert Coates of Pasadena, Maryland; three sisters: Agnes V. Coates of Boston, Massachusetts, Laura Brown of Severna Park, Maryland and Jacquline Harris of Pasadena, Maryland; two sisters-in-law, Levenia Coates and Margaret Coates, one brother-in-law, Samuel Harris and a host of nieces, nephews, and relatives as well as the following devoted friends: Claudette White, Agnes Coates, Sylvia Nolan, Mediterranean Jackson, Levenia Coates, Helen Watkins, Debbie Rasmussen, Henrietta Colbert, Donald Coates, Patrick Coughlin, William Lane, and Leo
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