Esther Mae Coats

A funeral service will be held 2:00 pm Monday, December 18, 2023 in the chapel of McLaurin Funeral Home with Reverend Mitch Lockamy and Reverend Matt Whaley officiating. Burial will follow at Shiloh Baptist Church Cemetery in Garner, North Carolina

Esther Mae was born on December 5, 1931 to Amos Pou and Lizzie Wells Coats of the Cleveland community. She was a devoted daughter, sister, sister-in-law, and aunt, and a good friend to many in her community. She grew up with 1 sister and 6 brothers on the family farm, where they worked hard raising tobacco and cotton. A child of the Great Depression, she knew first-hand about the value of hard work, the importance of determination, and most of all, about having faith that the Good Lord will provide. She attended Cleveland School, graduating in the Class of 1949. Shortly after graduation, she said she went “straight from the tobacco field” to the telephone company in downtown Raleigh, where she worked with her sister, Dolly Gray, as a telephone operator. She started out on the switchboard, working split shifts and swing shifts. She enjoyed a 38 year career with Southern Bell Telephone Company, advancing to the position of Plant Assigner. She was a member and supporter of The Pioneers volunteer organization. Esther was very proud of her job and her retirement with benefits.

Esther Mae was a life-long member of Shiloh Baptist Church. She loved the Lord and she loved her church. Over the years she sang in the choir, was active in the Willing Servants Sunday School class, and was a member of Women On Missions. For 50 years she was chairperson of the Bereavement Committee that provided food for families of the church during the loss of a loved one. She loved her church family, and had the honor of having the longest years of membership in the Shiloh congregation.

Esther Mae was an athlete, and all of her life, she loved sports. She grew up playing basketball “with the boys”, and she was good! During her years at Cleveland High School, she was a star player and high scorer. While working for Southern Bell, she played in the Raleigh Women’s City League (scoring 27 of the 48 points in a game against the Rex Hospital team). Esther Mae also played women’s softball, and was on the Johnson-Lambe softball team that won the state championship.

In addition to basketball and softball, Esther Mae was an accomplished bowler. She bowled in a Raleigh league that traveled all over the Southeast, bringing home numerous trophies. When her ball playing and bowling days came to an end, she coached girls softball for the Cleveland Athletic Association. The girls that she coached knew she believed in them, and they loved and respected her. It made her very happy to see that girls now have more opportunities to play sports.

Esther Mae’s biggest joy and greatest pride was her family. She never married and had children of her own, but she was the very proud aunt of 8 nieces and 6 nephews. Just as she had loved her sister and her brothers, she loved her nieces and nephews unconditionally, and was a steadfast presence in their lives. Esther Mae was there for her family in the good times and the bad times. She believed in standing by your family, no matter what, and she would help any of us in any way that she could. She bragged on us, told us she loved us, and taught us how to stick together.

Esther Mae Coats was a person with unwavering faith, strong convictions, and remarkable strength and courage. If you knew her, you know that she would “tell it like it is”. We loved her for that. She was smart and funny. She loved to collect clowns. She made the best chicken and pastry on the planet. She enjoyed playing the NC Education Lottery. She went to Bojangles every day as long as she was able and laughed with her lunch buddies. She never missed the annual Coats Family Reunion at Clemmons State Forest. And every year for as long as any of her family can remember, she welcomed “anybody who could come” to her house on Christmas Eve. She said over and over, “I’ve got the best family ever”. We give Esther Mae all the credit for showing us what being a family really means.

Esther is predeceased by her parents, Amos Pou and Lizzie Wells Coats, her sister, Dolly Gray Coats Pierce, and her 6 brothers: Tom (Tiny), Rouse (Valentine), Pou Jr (Violet), Alfred “Spot” (Ruth), Bobby (Betty), and George (Shirley). She is also preceded in death by her niece, Joy Coats, her nephew, Bruce Coats, and her great-nephew, Ben Woodruff.

Surviving to celebrate her life and cherish her memory are her sister-in-law, Ruth Blackwell Coats, and her nieces and nephews: Sarah Roth (Dick), Bonnie Woodruff (Leon), Mark Coats, Jayne Coats, Pam Durham (Otis), Dale Coats (Helen), Angie Bean (Jimmie), Melody Pearce (Keith), Bob Coats (Kristen), Michelle Coats Alvarez, Michael Coats (Cynthia), and Chris Coats (Daniela). She is also survived by 19 great nieces and nephews: Molly, Marion, Rebecca, Jeffrey, Megan, Bradley, Douglas, Andy, Josh, Jordan, Mary Elizabeth, Alex, Katie, Kaitlyn, Brittan, Braxton, Payton, Dillon, and Davis.

Online condolences may be made to the family at: www.mclaurinatpinecrest.com.

The family would like to thank the staff at Rex Hospital and Transitions LifeCare for their loving and compassionate care of Esther Mae.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be made to either: Shiloh Baptist Church, 3414 North Shiloh Road, Garner, North Carolina 27529 or Transitions LifeCare, 250 Hospice Circle, Raleigh, North Carolina 27607.

McLaurin Funeral Home in Clayton, North Carolina is honored to be assisting the Coats family.