Gloria Keel Coles

Gloria Keel Coles, a tireless and influential leader in the Donelson-Hermitage community, died on May 25. She was 86. She represented the best of what it means to be a Southern lady and was the embodiment of elegance, grace, beauty, strength, femininity, kindness and love.

She loved God, her family, her church, Marty Stuart, NCIS, magnolia blossoms and ice cream. She often said, “I love my children, but I also really like them.” She lived to serve others, and as she said, she loved every minute of it.

She devoted her entire career to health care, spending the first half as a registered nurse and the last half as education director, marketing director and physician services coordinator at Donelson Hospital, which later became Summit Medical Center.

She received the Nashville Woman of the Year Award from the Davidson County Business and Professional Women and the Community Service Award from Delta Kappa Gamma International in 1986.

A year later, she was named the Professional Business Woman of the Year by the Donelson-Hermitage Chamber of Commerce, which honored her with the Anna Wiggs Memorial Award in 1998 and the President’s Special Award for Outstanding Continuous Service in 2002. She was surprised when the Leadership Donelson-Hermitage created the Gloria Coles Leadership Heart of the Community Award and named her as its first recipient.

She loved working with dear friends Willie McDonald, Larry Keeton and Bill LaFollette to improve Donelson-Hermitage. She was the program coordinator for the first graduating class of Leadership Donelson-Hermitage in 1999. She was honored at the Senior Citizens Center’s 2003 Star Spangled Salute for her exceptional business and community leadership.

Born in Homewood, Miss., she was the oldest of three children and the daughter of a Louisiana Gulf Oil worker. She was raised in south Louisiana, where she played volleyball and basketball and was named Miss Port Barre, representing the town in the Rice and Yambilee festivals in parades and festivities.

She graduated from Breaux Bridge High School and moved to Jackson, Miss., to attend the Gilfoy School of Nursing at the Mississippi Baptist Hospital, from which she graduated in 1956. During this time, she cherished her dinners with Aunt Clara and Uncle B.C. Tadlock.

She married Pinckney Keel, a reporter for The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, in 1956 and they soon moved to Nashville when he accepted a position at the Nashville Banner. She worked at the Donelson Clinic for Dr. Joe Miller and Dr. Carl Gessler, who became her mentor, and became lifelong friends with Dr. Robert Gaston Sr. She also taught the clinical section of the Physician’s Assistants program at the Nashville campus of the University of Tennessee. She was grateful to Ora Lee Robertson, who made it possible for her to work by helping with her three children.

She joined Donelson Hospital in 1978 and devoted her days to recruiting doctors, providing opportunities for the hospital staff and improving the health of Davidson County residents. She awoke before 5 a.m. on weekdays to make everything perfect for her family. She cooked big dinners, set impeccable tables and decorated beautifully for holidays, all with joy and unending enthusiasm. She preferred to remain in the background, allowing the spotlight to remain on others. She thought the accomplishments of others, especially her children, were the greatest things she had ever seen.

After her husband’s unexpected death in 1984, she immersed herself in her work and community to help heal her broken heart. She also spent time with friends Phyllis Street and Helen Potts.

She served on the boards of the American Cancer Society, Sales and Marketing Executives of Nashville, Senior Citizens, Inc., and the Donelson Business and Professional Women, for which she served as president for several years.

She was a member of the Metro Nashville Airport Transportation and Noise Monitoring Committees and spent a decade on the Metro Disaster Planning Council, serving as chairman and secretary. Gov. McWherter appointed her to the board of directors of the Cloverbottom Developmental Center.

She served on the Metro Nashville Public Schools’ Vocational Education Advisory Committee and the Curriculum Committee for the Martin Luther King Jr. Health Sciences School. She was an Explorers Advisor and a member of the Advisory Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

In 1987, she agreed to a blind date with Dr. John H. Coles III, who courted her for nearly a decade over McDonald’s salads and dinners at Ruby Tuesday with irresistible manners from another era. She was so devoted to him that she willingly moved from her beloved Donelson to Green Hills when they married in 1996.

She retired in 1999, but remained actively involved in hospital affairs as a member of the Institutional Review Board of TriStar Hospitals. She was an active member of Lincoya Hills Baptist Church for nearly 40 years, teaching a Sunday School class and serving on its board of trustees.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Chelie Clifford Barnes Sr. and Nora Elizabeth Boyles Barnes; husbands, Pinckney D. Keel and Dr. John H. Coles III; daughter, Susan Elizabeth Keel; stepson, John H. Coles IV; and brother, Chelie Clifford Barnes Jr. Her sister-in-law, Betty Johnson, passed shortly after Gloria.

She is survived by her sister, Dolores Bentley; son, Dr. William Clifford Keel (Terri); daughter, Beverly Jean Keel; stepdaughters, Lisa Alexander (Clay), Lois Coles Baker (Steve), and Lynne Coles; brothers-in-law, David Keel and Bill Johnson; and sister-in-law, Margaret Keel; and grandchildren, Christopher Keel, Nathan Keel, David Steine, John Coles V, Robert Coles, Barbara Alexander McPhail (Andrew) and Clay Alexander (Delaney).

A Celebration of Life Service will be held at three o’clock in the afternoon on Sunday, June 13 in Lindsley Hall at Mt. Olivet Funeral Home in Nashville, where the service will be streamed live on Facebook @MountOlivetFuneralHome.

A Gathering of Family and Friends will be held from one until three o’clock in the afternoon on Sunday, June 13 at Mount Olivet Funeral Home.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to MusiCares, Music Health Alliance, Lincoya Hills Baptist Church or Alive Hospice.

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