William Albert Coates

William Albert Coates, born May 4th, 1930 in Larksville, Pennsylvania, passed away peacefully on June 22nd, 2024.

Bill and Marge moved from Pennsylvania to Connecticut after the Korean War where Bill began working for Pratt and Whitney Aircraft. Bill spent his entire professional career there. He had a very early desire to fly and while at Pratt he joined a flying club with two coworkers, learned to fly and eventually bought his first plane. He mainly flew the family back and forth to Pennsylvania to see relatives on what seemed like a monthly basis. I was his main co-pilot, flying nearly every weekend all over New England. His last plane was a 1947 red and white Navion, a low wing, retractable landing gear beauty which he truly loved. 

Bill enjoyed jazz music, camping, tennis, skiing and dancing with Marge and a martini before dinner. We camped as a family every summer all over New England, skied every weekend possible in the White Mountains of Vermont and played tennis any weekend it wasn’t raining. 

Bill had a strange relationship with automobiles. In somewhat chronological order the cars I remember: Austin Healey Sprite, Chevrolet Corvair, American Motors Rambler station wagon, American Motors Rambler sedan, Ford station wagon, American Motors Matador, Subaru station wagon, Jeep Cherokee, American Motors Gremlin, Jeep pickup truck, Audi 4000, Acura Integra, Porsche 911L, Porsche 911SC, Porsche 924. The last three he had at the same time and ended up building an addition on to his garage to keep them all cozy. 

Bill could put up with a great deal without getting bothered. Once when I was very small I dropped a golf ball into the gas tank of the family car. Eventually the gasoline dissolved the outer casing of the golf ball leaving only the inner elastic bands which would cause the car to stall every time it went up a long steep hill. Now Bill had to navigate one such hill pretty regularly and rather than addressing the problem Bill just drove up the hill … backwards…for weeks before he fixed the problem.

The Gremlin’s windshield wipers failed one winter and for the entire winter if you wanted to see out of the car when it was raining or snowing you had to take the stretched out metal close hanger, stored neatly in the front door panel, stick it out of the window of the car, hook it around the wiper and yank it back and forth. This lasted the entire winter. 

My favorite story about Bill had to do with his time at Pratt and Whitney. At one point in his career he was doing a lot of traveling between East Hartford, Connecticut and Florida. On one such trip to Florida he had to rent a car. When he got to the car rental agency they informed him that his driver’s license had expired. Well, that didn’t matter to Bill. He just dug in until the car rental agent drove him to the Florida DMV, waited while he applied for, took and received his Florida driver’s license, drove him back to the airport and rented him his car. 

Bill did really have a heart of gold. He would do anything for anyone without even thinking of complaining. He was extremely loyal to his family and friends. I can’t remember a game in any sport or any other event that I or my sisters were part of in High School when he wasn’t there. Upon retiring Bill and Marge traveled through Europe for a year or so, moved to Florida for 10 years where they lived in a tennis community. They then moved to Maine for 10 years and then back to Florida again before finally moving back to Connecticut for their final years. He stood by his wife’s side, holding her hand,  dancing when required, for 71 years and never got a word in edgewise, although he was known to sneak off and find a good place to nap from time to time. 

Bill is survived by his daughter, Cathy Rothfeld, his son, Chris Coates, and his wife Margaret, eight grandchildren, Parker Swenson (Phoebe), Katie Rollo (Jeff), Phoebe Kling (Sam), Libby Rothfeld, Evan Rothfeld, Morgan Coates, Ryan Coates (Hillary) and John Coates (Mairin). Four great-grandchildren, Rowan and Maeve Curry , Sophia Swenson and McKenna Coates. He is predeceased by his wife Margaret of 71 years and his daughter Beth Ann Coates.