Gordon L. Coats

Gordon L. Coats, age 90, died Monday at Mount Hope Nursing Center in Mount Hope, Kansas. Gordon was born at home in Fellsburg, Kansas on September 21, 1927 to Clyde and Bersheba Coats. He lived in and around Edwards County, Kansas, until 1942 when he enlisted with the United States Navy, serving in the Pacific theater of World War II. He was discharged in 1947.

Gordon returned and married Beatrice “Bea” Basgall on August 19, 1950 at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Offerle, Kansas. The two had four daughters. He worked for Kansas Power and Light for 42 years as a lineman, crew foreman and finally retired from the company as Area Manager in Kinsley, Kansas.  When he wasn’t working, Gordon was farming or building things.  He was a recreational pilot who enjoyed constructing his own planes – with his first plane being a white Starduster II.  That plane became the talk of the town when he taxied it from his garage down Main Street to its new home at the Kinsley airport with a wheat truck following close behind carrying its wings … not a sight you see every day in Kinsley, Kansas!   Gordon truly loved farming and flying.  

He was preceded in death by his wife, Bea.

Survivors include four daughters: Leslie Coats of Paola, Jennifer Martino of N. Kansas City, Mo, Shannon Barnes of Valley Center and Stacy Kohlmeier of Manhattan, and six grandchildren: Ian Barnes, Caleb Barnes, Darrah Hodge (Barnes), Emma Fitzgerald (Martino), Grant Kohlmeier and Drew Kohlmeier, and nine great-grandchildren.

Graveside services will be held at 3 p m on Thursday, December 21, at Hillside Cemetery with Father John Strasser presiding.  A reception celebrating Gordon’s life and military service will be held at the VFW immediately following services. Memorials may be made to the VFW Honor Guard or the Kinsley Gun Club Youth Program in care of McKillip Memorial Funeral Home, 623 Marsh Ave, Kinsley, Kansas 67547.