Steve Lee Coates, 56, died Saturday, Aug. 18, 2012, at the Southwest Regional Cancer Treatment Center of America.
He was born Jan. 16, 1956, in Peoria, Ill., son of Leola and Bill Buffington. He married Dee Dee Houston. They later divorced, and he married Sue Brahmstedt.
He was a member of the Jack Forks Country and Methodist Church in Eminence. He served the Knoxville, Ill., community as member of the volunteer fire department before moving to Eminence in 2004.
He retired from Gates Rubber Company after 30 years of service. He served the United Rubber Workers as a union steward. He also owned and operated C and J Construction. In later years, he owned a bar and restaurant in Alexis, Ill. He sold the business to move to Missouri. He then went to work for the park service. In 2006, he became the maintenance laborer for CH2M Hill in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska.
Survivors include his wife, Sue Coats; three daughters, Stacy Dew of Alexis, Ill., and Amy Kelso and Stacey Kavanagh of Knoxville, Ill.; his mother, Lee Buffington of Eminence; two sisters, Liddell Swanson of Decatur, Alab., and Sue Keeling of Eminence; seven grandchildren; and a host of other family members and friends.
Services were Wednesday, Aug. 22 at Bradford Funeral Home Chapel with Pastor John Prain officiating. Burial was in Summers Cemetery.
A memorial fund has been established at Community Bank NA in Eminence for the cancer center.
