Winifred Jean Coates (nee Hobbs) passed away on November 23, 2017 of heart ailment and old age, at 88 at home with family and friends in the care of Hospice.
She was born November 15, 1929 in Plymouth England and was the youngest of five children. In 1951 she married Geoffrey Edward Coates, and in 1952 she graduated medical school with honors in Bristol, UK.
When Geoffrey immigrated to Laramie in 1968 to become the chemistry head at the University of Wyoming, Winifred came with and set up a private practice in town and practiced family medicine for decades delivering many babies and touching a large number of lives in a positive way. She was a very hard worker, devoted to her patients, and was a co-founder of Albany County Family Planning.
She had many hobbies: maintaining beautiful gardens at their home on Rainbow Ave, a wonderful sun room, and indoor orchids. She was very skilled in needlepoint. She loved her dogs especially and in her later years her horses, earning a buckle for barrel racing at 75 years old on her special “Tootsie.” She took pleasure for many years in encouraging her granddaughter “Jojo” each summer in her horse activities.
She also liked to travel and, together with her husband, visited many exotic and exciting places. She also enjoyed camping and fishing in our own Snowy Range and Sierra Madre.
Her husband died after 64 years together (93 y/o) and she maintained her independence in a smaller home with her beloved dog and enjoyed her backyard birds and small garden.
She was a member of St. Matthew’s Cathedral.
She had a small, but loved family.
She is preceded in death by her siblings.
She is survived by her children: daughter Helen Coates (Laramie); son Peter Coates (Whitehorse, Yukon); grandchildren Eric (Maui), Joellen (Seattle), Andrew (Seattle), and Thomas (Des Moines); great grandchildren Devin, Summertime, Allison, and Zoe.
In lieu of flowers donations can be made to Hospice of Laramie, Laramie Audubon, or Nature Conservancy.
A memorial service will be held 2:00 p.m., Saturday December 2, 2017, at St. Matthew’s Cathedral.
Thank God for Dr. Coates. In high school, I was really sick. No one seemed to know what it was. It was a fluke that she noticed something not quite right with me. We were at her house getting a kitten, and she noticed something was really wrong. The next week I was in the hospital in Denver, where I stayed for 2 months, and for another 2 months later on. She was my doctor until she retired. If she had not become my doctor heaven knows what would have happened. A few years ago, I saw her at the post office, and she said "My God, are you still alive?" It really caught me off guard, and made me laugh out loud. She made them test me, and test me, and test me until they could make a diagnosis. Thank God she did.
Dr. Coates was a wonderful, caring person. She really cared about her patients and took a more natural approach to medicine. She will be missed
Sending condolences on behalf of my mother, Foncey Taylor and myself. She was mom's doctor and our family doctor for many years. My daughter was one the last babies born through her practice. I was a high risk mom due to my age and Dr. Coates got both of us through it in great shape. She was a wonderful family doctor, and I appreciate her early work to bring Family Planning to Laramie.
I'm so sorry Dr. Coates has left us. She was a wonderful doctor and helped so many people. May all our fond memories of her help us all and especially her family through this difficult time. Donna Thompson
Dr. Coates became my doctor shortly after I moved to Laramie (1968), and remained so until she retired. She was by far the best doctor I have ever had. My condolences to her family. There will never be another "Dr. Coates" as far as I am concerned! I'm sorry that I had to miss her memorial services today.
She was a very special dr. to me. So down-to-earth with her answers to my questions. She was an asset to our community. She was respected and loved by many..
I am so sad to hear about Dr. Coates passing. She was my Dr. from the time I was 4 years old to delivering my second child in 1993. I always look for the directness, humor, and tenacity she showed in physicians that I seek care from today. Rarely do any of them live up to those expectations (Dr. Laurie Palmer and Dr. Robert Monger, both live up to her legacy). My sincere condolences to her family and to Harriet...thank you for the loving care you provided me for over 30 years.
Jean was a font of substantive wisdom, kindness, humor, and strength, which stretched far beyond her role as our "family physician." She was our doctor from 1975 until her retirement. She was one of those rare physicians who treated the whole person, not just the sore throat. Her sense of humor was legion and unparalleled. She had an intuitive sense of the human condition, i.e., if you had a sever headache, she would likely pursue why that might be, rather than just providing medication to relieve the symptoms. She was a tremendous role model for what it takes to be a truly decent human being. She was the epitome of all that is good in the human spirit. Sandy Adams
I was fortunate to move to Laramie in 1988 and find out I was pregnant with my second daughter and I luckily got referred to Dr. Coates who delivered my daughter and was our family's doctor until she retired. She was a perfect match for us and I am thankful she was our doctor. She loved helping everyone and was very knowledgeable. I send my condolences to her family. She will be missed but never forgotten.
My thoughts and prayers are with all of Dr. Coates family and friends . She was a Wonderful, Warm, and Loving Doctor, who always made time for anyone, anytime who needed her help! Twenty two yrs. ago she discovered I couldn't hear during a yearly physical, sent me to get my hearing checked. I was completely deaf on my left side, from there she proceeded to make connections with Doctors she knew could help me. Within a week I was diagnosed with a Brain Tumor , without her knowledge, kindness, and effort to help in anyway I wouldn't be a live today! She touched many people's lives while she practiced, and I am one that has always kept her close to my heart through the years! God Bless you Jean
Our deepest sympathy to all of Jean's family. My husband and I will never forget her. She shepherded us through a difficult first pregnancy, calm and reassuring, whose voice with her wonderful English accent made me feel as if I were in my mother's care--my mother, too, was from England. Our baby boy had the distinction of being the first baby she delivered at the new Ivinson Memorial Hospital. She exclaimed with delight when she saw his hair that he was a little redhead, just like her! She was his and my doctor for the five years we lived in Laramie after his birth and was not only an excellent physician but was kind and caring--a doctor who was also a friend. In the years since our Laramie days, I've often thought of her with much fondness and wondered what her life was like after we left. Your loving obituary filled in the gap. Learning of her hobbies and her barrel racing at age 75 brought smiles and an affirmation of what a remarkable woman she was. May you all be comforted by the countless happy memories you have of her.
Thank you, Dr. Coates, for all you did for my family and for the Laramie community. My condolences to your family.
What a Wonderful Woman and Doctor. I had three difficult pregnancies, and without her, my Children and Grandchildren would not be here. We have not had a Doctor like her since. She was brilliantly compassionate. God bless you all and Thanks for sharing your Mother with so many.
She was a great doctor and a beautiful woman. She was my doctor for years and delivered my 3 children. I always admired her. I will never forget her and how wonderful she treated people.
My family and myself loved her. She was our Dr.for years. My children loved her. She delivered my son and later my daughter's son. She was a great,kind woman and Dr. and had so much knowlege. She will be always be remembered and loved.
I am so sorry to read that Dr. Coates has moved on, but grateful to have known her and to have become her patient in my late teens. Her dry, low-key honesty was indispensable in helping me navigate the sudden death of my father, and taught me to seek and expect physicians to engage with me in frank, intelligent exchanges about my health care. When I moved away from Laramie and started my own family, it was her influence that prompted me to always make the extra effort to find female physicians for my own daughters, one of whom is now going into the health care field. My thoughts are with family and friends, and my thanks go out to this wonderful lady - Dr. Coates, your impact spans miles and decades, and you are remembered with love!