Ed Coker

MR. ED COKER Mr. Ed Coker, 92, retired from the Safety Department of Monsanto Company with 40 years service and former resident of Pawnee Trail, died Saturday, December 28, 2002 at Life Care Center. Funeral services will be conducted Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. at Oakes & Nichols with Rev. Ray Newell and Rev. Ben Alexander officiating. The family will visit with friends Monday from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the funeral home. Burial will be in the Polk Memorial Gardens with Masonic Rites at the graveside. Memorials may be made to the Riverside United Methodist Church. Notes of sympathy may be sent to the family at www.oakesandnichols.com A native of Dothan, Alabama, he was the son of the late Harold Coker and Myrtle Adams Coker and was a 1929 graduate of Anniston, Alabama High School. Mr. Coker was a long-time member of the Riverside United Methodist Church, a former member of the Columbia Lions Club and the Maury County Chamber of Commerce. He served two terms on the Columbia City Council and was a member of the City Power Board. A member of the Columbia Masonic Lodge #31 for 50 years, he was a 32 degree Mason, Scottish Rite Mason and member of the Al Menah Shrine Temple. On August 18, 1938, he married the former Jimmie Ruth Stepp who preceded him in death November 10, 1998. Survivors include a daughter and son-in-law, Edwina and James Stepp of Nolensville; two grandchildren, Julie Stepp Yeager of Nolensville and Melissa Stepp of Windham, Connecticut; three great-grandchildren, Michael James Stepp, Thomas Allen Yeager and Timothy Lee Yeager, all of Nolensville; a goddaughter, Lisa Johnson Upham of Warrenton, Virginia; two sisters-in-law, Nannie Lee Ashley of Columbia and Inez Thomas of Lewisburg; several nieces and nephews. Active pallbearers are George Jones, Richie Ashley, Ronnie Hines, Kevin Hines, Meredith Cowsert, and Bill Derryberry. Honorary pallbearers include Monsanto retirees, Ned Laughmiller, Chuck Dillard, Richard McAdams, Keith Hines, Mike Blair, Dr. Harold Pryor, Wayne Kennedy, Dr. Ben Gardiner, Virginia Alexander, Kelly White, Clarence Dunnavant, Charles Sanders, Hueston Marshall, Fred Hawkins, Regina Lasley, Murray Sharp, Wayne Hartsfield, Houston Crozier, Clint Damron, Morty Damron, Charles Brewer, Austin Brewer, Calvin Bradley, Arthur Gidcomb, Sammy Logue, Joe Foster, Alvin Moore, staff and residents of The Bridge and staff of Life Care Center.