Nancy Elaine Coates

SALEM- Nancy (Travis) Coates died at the age of 82 after a courageous 4-year battle with lung cancer. She is survived by her loving husband, William Coates, her brother, Edward Travis (Anne), her children, Heather Coates Krawitz (Matthew) and Ryan Coates (Alison), and her grandchildren Margaret Krawitz, Sam Krawitz, Seth Coates, and Carly Coates. Nancy Elaine was born in Monterey Park, Los Angeles to Emilie and Frederick Travis. Growing up with her brother Eddie, she enjoyed training and showing dogs. With her father working out of state and Eddie enlisting in the Coast Guard, Nancy was allowed to get her driver’s license at 14 to drive her mother around who had never learned to drive. Her love for fast driving led her to race cars for many years. She graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1958 where she was a reporter for the student newspaper and a Powder Puff. She next attended East Los Angeles College, graduating in 1960. Nancy went on to attend her dream school, Cal Poly, in San Luis Obispo, where she studied Home Economics and was part of the Poly Penguins Motorcycle Club. During her Cal Poly time, she took a year off to work for the FBI. She found this job so interesting that she considered staying, but eventually returned to Cal Poly and graduated in 1964. She worked for a time for Carnation Foods doing food photography, creating recipes, and writing cookbooks. Nancy and Bill met dancing. A year of dating preceded their wedding at the glass Wayfarer’s Chapel in Palos Verdes, California on New Year’s Eve, 1965. As a couple, they enjoyed dancing, camping, sailing, and traveling in their convertible Austin Healy. They enjoyed 57 loving years of marriage. Together, they raised their two children, Heather and Ryan. In 1984, the Coates family followed Bill’s job to Oro Valley, Arizona. There, Nancy joined the home economics extension club and started doing wildlife rescue and rehabilitation. She became a patient instructor at the University of Arizona where Heather went to Medical School. Heather and her family later moved to Massachusetts. Ryan attended medical school at Midwestern University in Glendale, Arizona, and eventually moved to rural New York State. Nancy and Bill, after much convincing, moved to Salem, Massachusetts in 2018 where they enjoyed exploring the witch city and learning a new coast. Nancy passed away on July 14th, 2023 at Kaplan Family Hospice House in Danvers, Massachusetts, with her loved ones by her side. No services are planned at this time. In lieu of flowers, please consider supporting the Mass General Cancer Center (https://www.massgeneral.org/cancer-center/about/support-us) or Kaplan Family Hospice House (https://www.caredimensions.org/support-our-mission/).