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                                                                                     September 6, 2019 Coats Museum News
The calendar displayed the month of March when the newspaper was filled with March 1979 obituaries of individuals with Coats connections. Miss Myrtie Stephenson had died on Saturday. She was 93 years old and Miss Mary E. Stephenson and Mrs. Gertrude S. Teague were her sisters (Daily Record Mar. 12, 1979).
Mr. W. Robert Adams, 78, of Route 3, Four Oaks, had passed on Wednesday. Those who survived him were his wife, Mrs. Vera Lassiter Adams; and two sons, R. Bill Adams and Stanton Adams (Daily Record Mar. 16, 1979).
Mrs. Ethel Lee Ennis, 65, of rural Coats had expired on Friday. Surviving her were John Bruce Ennis, Mrs. Rebecca Ennis Williford and Mrs. Rachel Hinsley. Also in that same Mar. 19, 1979 Daily Record was the news that Mayor Ronald Coats was guest speaker in Mrs. Betty Pleasant’s second grade class. Wonder if he discussed the exciting news that there was soon to be a recreational park for the young athletes in the Coats area.
Who remembers the beautiful Dona Denning, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Junius Denning? Dona had been chosen by the student body of Coats High as the “Student of the Month”. Dr. Anne Moore was chosen to fill in as President of the Democratic Women of Harnett County (Daily Record Mar. 23, 1979).
Amanda Turlington was featured in a picture that won for Benson photographer Jerry Lambert two “Gold Corners” at the Southeastern Professional Photographers Association in Atlanta (Daily Record Mar. 26, 1979). These are a couple of notes about those mentioned in that news article. Amanda is the daughter of Linda Turlington Herring who touched the lives of so many students in Harnett County while Jerry Lambert is a descendant of Ron Lambert who was both a cousin of Elder Tom Coats and surveyor of the area that became incorporated as Coats, NC.
Meet another lady that touched the lives of many young people in the classroom. Sharon Kay Clayton was engaged to marry D. Jan McLamb on May 20th at the Coats Methodist Church. The 1976 graduate was daughter of Mrs. Peggie Denning Clayton and Boyd Clayton (Daily Record Apr. 5, 1979).
Mrs. Bertie Messer McLeod, 82, had died on Thursday. The lady was the mother of Clyde and Victor McLeod, Mrs. Mattie Wood, Mrs. Grace Taylor, and Mrs. Annie Norris. The late James T. Messer and Nancy Baker Messer were her parents. She was the widow of Richard McLeod  (Daily Record April 13, 1979). Wonder if this McLeod family was kin to the early educator Ralvin McLeod of the Moonlight School at Turlington School?
I do know that Angela Kay Holmes, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Holmes, was engaged to marry Larry Thomas Denton, son of Sherrill and Jewel Grimes Denton. The wedding was planned to be at the home of the bride (Daily Record Apr. 16, 1979).
Did you recognize any of those names? For several years Jewel, Judy and Donnie Grimes were neighbors of my family. We all spent our summers working on the farm and I well remember Jewel being faced with the challenge of the loss of a leg. After a story appeared in the Dunn paper in which her sister Judy asked for help in getting Jewel a leg so they could play together, the appeal touched the hearts of so many . Through the generosity of many of those folks, Jewel was able to have a prosthetic leg and play with her sister, my sisters and me on the farm.
Wonder if that Grimes family was related to Mrs. Lois Grimes Wood who had died on Tuesday. Surviving family members were her husband, P.B. Wood, Jr. and four daughters-Mrs. Peggy McGee, Mrs. Bette Ann Stephenson, Mrs. Susan Royster and Miss Deborah Wood. Her siblings were Mrs. Myrtie Godwin, D.T. Grimes, A.C. Grimes and E.C. Grimes, all of Coats (Daily Record Apr. 18, 1979). It is interesting to note that this is the Wood family associated with the Parley Wood family and Cane Mill Road.
Ralph Lane Gregory, 80, of rural Coats, had died on Friday. Surviving him were his wife, Mrs. Flora Nordan Gregory; two sons-Albert and Willis H. Gregory, and two daughters-Mrs. Carlie Stevens and Mrs. Ray Stancil. William, Henry, and A.Z. Gregory were his brothers while Mrs. Millie Pollard was his sister (Daily Record Apr. 20, 1979). Boy- there are many success stories in that family.
Does it seem that the Coats Recreational Park has been in the news forever? Here we add more info. The land that Gerald Langdon donated for the Coats Park received assistance through a Domestic Action Program. Twenty-five Fort Bragg G.I.’s from the Earth Moving Company B of the 548 Engineering Battalion worked on the project saving the town $52,000 (Daily Record Apr. 27, 1979).
Another young couple pledged their wedding vows. Miss Bonnie Lynn Lee and Randy Thomas Pope were married at the Coats Baptist Church (Daily Record Apr. 27, 1979).
The Dunn paper was filled with deaths and marriages in almost every edition. Mr. Lynn Ennis, 89, had died on Thursday. He was survived by two daughters-Mrs. Heloise Holmes and Mrs. Evelyn Ennis. He was son of Jimmy and Martha Suggs Ennis (Daily Record Apr. 27, 1979).
Myra Lynn Futral and Donnie Dale Langdon were married at Patters Hill Advent Christian Church. The bridegroom was the son of Vera Lee Weeks (Daily Record Apr. 30, 1979).
Miss Hilda M. Carroll of Coats announced the engagement of her daughter, Donna Jean Carroll, to Ronald H. Barnes, son of Mr. and Mrs. Hearley Barnes of Coats (Daily Record May 10, 1979).
Joemma Matthews Denton, 81, of Coats had died on May 6th. Her services were at Oak Grove Baptist Church. Five sons-James, Ralph, Sherrill, William and Don Denton survived her. Her two daughters were Faye Denton O’Neal and Mrs. Patsy Denton Lee. Four sisters were Annie Jane King, Mrs. Margarie Byrd, Mrs. Maude Baker and Mrs. Betsy Ferrell (Daily Record May 17, 1979). Wonder if she got to see her grandson Larry marry Angela Holmes before she died.
The Coats Chapter of the FHA held its Mother-Daughter Banquet. President Emma Jo Knox presented the name of officers for 1979-80 who were Cindy Barnes, president; Lori Sills, vice-president; Shari Gardner, secretary-treasurer; Pamela Strickland, photographer; Angel Moore, historian; Karen Fuquay, reporter; Shelia McLamb, song leader; Beth Garris, pianist and Jennifer Johnson, parliamentarian (Daily Record May 24, 1979).
Do you remember reading about the new bank coming to Coats in an earlier column? It was time for the ribbon cutting. On May 15th, the Branch Bank of Carolina Bank had the opening. Charlie Parker, Jr. was the manager of the office. Karen Ferguson, Hazeline Strickland and Margaret House were the bank tellers. The Board of Directors were Ronald Coats, Robert Green, Grady L. Matthews, Joseph H. Penny, Jr., William R. Pope, Eugene C. Stewart and Graham Turlington (Daily Record May 31, 1979).
Tommy and Chris Coats have done an amazing job restoring the house of the Preacher Tom Coats. Both are descendants of the founder. His youngest daughter, Mrs. Ida Coats Turlington, 82, had died in the Johnston Memorial Hospital in Smithfield. She lived next door to her parents and was the wife of the late Mayor C.J. Turlington. Ida’s mom was Nancy Isabella Turlington, daughter of Andrew Jackson Turlington, son of Willis Turlington, and Brazilla Denning Turlington.
Mrs. Ida Turlington had been a member since 1934 of Gift Primitive Baptist Church that her father had built and “gifted” to the town. Mrs. Ida had attended Coats High School, Buies Creek Academy, and East Carolina Teachers College. She taught school in Johnston and Harnett Counties for eight years before resigning to become Assistant Cashier of the First Citizen Bank of Coats.  Do you remember when that bank came to Coats and when it left?
She had married C.J. Turlington in 1919. Funeral services were held at her home located next to her parents’ house. Elder A. D. McGee and Elder J. Shepherd Stephenson officiated. Surviving her were two sons-Charles and Hugh Turlington and a daughter-Mrs. Arlene T. Forbis. Miss Caro Coats was her surviving sister (Daily Record June 21, 1979).
The museum volunteers and friends will assemble a huge display of “Scouting in Coats”. Kevin Pope, a Coats Museum board member and an Eagle Scout, is heading up the event. Dr. Harold Dixon was the first Eagle Scout from Troop 79 and was followed by Marc Powell. Marc has volunteered to assist Kevin in setting up this exhibit. The museum folks are asking all former or current scout leaders and recipients of Eagle status in Troop 79 (779) to drop by the museum to share your story of scouting. We do not need duplicates of scouting items so drop by early to see if your items are needed to make an outstanding display of Scouting in the Coats area.