Elaine K. Coate, 90, Quaker champion for children
A memorial is set for May 13.
Elaine K. Coate, 90, a retired social services executive, died March 17 at Hahnemann University Hospital.
Ms. Coate, who lived most recently at the Watermark, was executive director of the Friends Association for Care and Protection of Children, a Quaker social services agency formerly known as the Friends Shelter for Girls, from 1975 to 1992, and served on the group's board for seven years before that.
She also worked as a civic and political leader, serving as Democratic Committee chairwoman in Radnor Township, and advocating in Harrisburg for various children's issues.
"She was the 'cool mom' who was really supportive, particularly of young women," said her daughter Cathryn Coate. "She would go up and down the street and grab them and say, 'Go to a better college, get a master's degree, further your career.' "
Born in Philadelphia and raised in Mount Airy and Abington, she became a Quaker at age 15. She graduated from Abington Friends School and earned a bachelor's degree in English from Earlham College in Richmond, Ind.
She traveled extensively, said her daughter, and was an "avid bird-watcher, camper, poet, rock collector, and lover of music, especially Charlie Parker and Pink Floyd. She could identify nearly every plant and tree in the woods and recite Walt Whitman by heart."
Ms. Coate and her husband, James M. Coate, raised their family in Rosemont and then Malvern. After his death in 2013, she moved to the Watermark.
She was predeceased by daughter Cecelia "Cissy" Coate. In addition to daughter Cathryn, she is survived by sons James Jr. and Robert, six grandchildren, a great-grandson, and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.
A Quaker memorial service will be Sunday, May 13 at 3 p.m. at Valley Friends Meeting, 1121 Old Eagle School Road in Wayne. Contributions in her memory can be made to Cape May Bird Observatory, 701 E. Lake Drive, Cape May Point, N.J. 08212.