Emma Fern Coats, 95, daughter of Roy and Lola Rickard Crawford, was born July 9, 1912, in the Lundy community. She died March 30, 2008, at Houston House Nursing Center.
Mrs. Coats loved gardening and looked forward to receiving seed catalogs in late winter. She would wear them thin thumbing through them, planning that year’s garden. Her cellar was colorful with jars of vegetables and fruit.
She was a charter member of the Clara Baptist Church, which was established Dec. 5, 1954.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Herschel; parents; two sons, Donald and Butch; one sister, Lavenia Ragland; and one brother, Elam Crawford.
Surviving are two sons, Bob of Mount Vernon, Ill., and Kenny of Kirkwood; one daughter, Carole Sue Hoover of Conway, Ark.; one sister, Ruby James of Houston; 13 grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren and six great-great-grandchildren.
Services are 10 o’clock today (Thursday) at the Clara Baptist Church with Paul Murray and the Rev. Wesley Wallace officiating. Burial is in the Wolford Cemetery under the direction of Evans Funeral Home.
Memorials may be made to the Wolford Cemetery Association, 15165 Cleveland Rd., Houston or Hospice of Care.