Dorrene Ida Coates

Dec 16, 2023

Dorrene I. Coates, a 72-year resident of Eagle River, Alaska, passed away on Dec. 16, 2023, at home, age 91. She was born in Hazel Green, Wis., on Jan. 3, 1932, the daughter of Lenas and Emma Richardson. Dorrene attended Hazel Green schools and graduated from Hazel Green High School. On Sept. 15, 1951, she married the love of her life, Raymond Coates of Galena, Ill. Raymond had been recently drafted into the Army and sent to Alaska. They came to live in Alaska, built their home and started raising their family. Dorrene worked for Lang's Grocery Store in Mountain View in Anchorage. Then she went to work for the Civil Service on Fort Richardson as a clerk at the commissary until 1959, when they started to raise a family. Once the children were established in school, she went to work for Quality Cleaners part time in Eagle River. Later, Dorrene went back to Civil Service and worked in the Petroleum Division on Fort Richardson until her retirement in 1998. Dorrene volunteered for Visit Anchorage, she worked at Eagle River Elementary School for the State of Alaska Division of Elections.

Dorrene is survived by her daughter, Vicki Carnahan (Jim); son, Richard Coates; granddaughter, Jamie Agre (Luke); grandson, Kurtis Carnahan; and great-grandson, Bowen Agre, who Dorrene called her "little man"; her youngest son Steven's widow, Stacy Coates; sisters-in-law, Jean and Shirley; and many nieces and nephews. She is preceded in death by her husband, Raymond; son, Steven; parents, Lenas and Emma Richardson; brothers, Don, Frank, Lenas and Charles; sisters-in-law, Betty and Ann.

Funeral mass is scheduled at St. Andrew's Church in Eagle River on Jan. 11, 2024, at 11 a.m. Dorrene had been a member of St. Andrew's parish since its mission days in the 1950s; at the time of her death she was the longest-running member of St. Andrews parish. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the American Stroke Association.