08/11/06 — CLEARON COATS

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CLEARON COATS

Nov. 26, 1912 - Aug. 9, 2006

SMITHFIELD -- The Rev. Clearon Millard "C.M." Coats, 93, a retired Free Will Baptist minister, died Wednesday at home.

Born in Johnston County, he was the son of the late James William and Addie Coats. In his younger years, he farmed and ran a country store near Coats Crossroads. He was ordained as a Free Will Baptist minister in 1950 and served as pastor of 13 churches in and around Johnston County before he retired. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Nora Mae Lancaster Coats.

Funeral services will be held Saturday at 2 p.m. in the chapel of Parrish Funeral Home in Selma, with entombment following in the mausoleum at Sunset Memorial Park in Smithfield.

Surviving are his wife, Pearl Todd Davis Coats; one brother, Merrill J. Coats of Aurora, Colo.; and several nieces and nephews.

Flowers are welcome, or memorial donations may be made to the Building Fund at Tee's Chapel Free Will Baptist Church, 6434 Brogden Road, Smithfield, N.C., 27577; or to Mount Olive College Endowment Fund, 634 Henderson St., Mount Olive, N.C., 28365.

The family will receive friends at Parrish Funeral Home in Selma from 7 until 9 this evening.

Published in Obituaries on August 11, 2006 2:07 PM