E. Mildred Coakley, 88, rural Bellefonte, died Friday, July 8, 2005, at Centre Crest nursing home.

Born Sept. 5, 1916, in Mill Hall, she was a daughter of the late Walter and Margaret Bitner Knecht.

Mildred moved to Yarnell in 1936, where she met and later married Raymond Boyd Coakley, who preceded her in death June 26, 1970.

Mildred leaves a varied legacy, having touched innumerable lives in her 88 years.

As a teacher in the Yarnell two-room schoolhouse, she helped shape many young lives.

As a farm wife, she was known far and wide for her fresh brown eggs, heaping bushel baskets of peaches, and sweet corn - always demanding Iowa Chief. Her prized gardens always netted hundreds of jars of canned goods, including her infamous icicle pickles.

A talented seamstress, she made multiple haps and garments for her children and grandchildren without the benefit of a pattern; one hap accompanied a grandson to Iraq.

Mildred was an active member of the Yarnell United Methodist Church.

After she retired, most Saturday evenings you would find Mildred playing cards with her brothers and sisters, and Sunday afternoons with her family playing board games or putting puzzles together.

Mildred will be sorely missed by all whose lives she touched.

Mildred is survived by the following children: Melvin B. and his wife, Carol Coakley, of Beech Creek, Ronald J. and his wife, Sandy Coakley, of Yarnell, Dorothy J. and her husband, Donald Gates, of Zion, Phyllis L. and her husband, Bill Dixon Sr., of Tyrone, Thomas L. and his wife, Cathy Coakley, of rural Howard, Thelma M. Gilbert and her husband, Larry, of rural Howard, Marjorie A. and her husband, Clarence Johnson, of rural Howard, and Glenn and his wife, Jeri Coakley, of Yarnell.

She is also survived by two brothers, Clair Knecht, Bellefonte, and Ray Knecht, Mechanicsburg; five sisters, Mary Louise Fox, Jersey Shore, Margaret McGill, Tucson, AZ, Evelyn Tupper, Bellefonte, Helen Reish, Lock Haven, and Isabelle Eisenhower, Buffalo, NY; and 24 grandchildren, 44 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.

In addition to her parents and to her husband, she was preceded in death by a sister, Elizabeth Courter; a brother, Lowell Knecht; and a great-grandson.

Funeral Tuesday at Dean K. Wetzler Funeral Home, Milesburg, Pastor Calvin F. Phillips II officiating.

Burial in Advent Cemetery, Boggs Township.

[Centre Daily]