Richard Coe

Richard Phillip Coe was born to Dewitt and Edna (Broyles) Coe on Sept. 22, 1937, on a farm in Glencoe, Oklahoma.  He was the youngest of 8 children. Richard passed away August 2, 2020, in the Moosehaven Health Care Center at the age of 82.

After graduating from Glencoe High School with the class of 1956, he attended college in Wichita Kansas, worked a short stint with a Firestone dealership then served two years in the United States Army, serving between the Korean and Vietnam Wars. After coming home from the Army, he worked as a field office manager with a local construction company. 

In 1964, he moved to Roseburg, Oregon, where he and a friend bought a Mobile Oil distributorship, which they owned and operated for several years.  He then went to work for Roseburg Lumber Company doing administrative office work and payroll. After 11 years, the environmental movement and other changes in the timber industry led him to look for another career.  Richard moved to Grants Pass, Oregon, in 1984 working various jobs until he officially retired in 2002 at the age of 65.

Richard didn’t have any grand vision of doing public service when he joined the Loyal Order of Moose, in 1994. He was a charter member of the Grants Pass/Merlin Moose Lodge, #2454, Grants Pass, Oregon and Moose Legion #146, Crate Lake, Oregon.  He served on and off as the lodge administrator, was district president of the state board, and received the state convention Diamond Award for Moose Legionnaire one year. He was a past governor and a member of the 25 Club.  Richard sponsored 60 Moose members in his lifetime.

20 years that Richard served in Moose International, he received many honors and awards including his Fellowship Degree of Honor on June 25, 2001 and The Pilgrim Degree of Merit, the highest honor that can be bestowed upon a member of the Loyal Order of Moose, on June 2, 2012.

Richard moved to Moosehaven retirement community on November 3, 2016 where he resided for 3 years.  While at Moosehaven he enjoyed the benefits of social interaction and support services within a residential community that served members of the Loyal Order of Moose.

Richard is survived by his brother, Blake Coe and wife, Ethel, of Perry, Oklahoma, and many nieces and nephews who were very fond of their Uncle.  Richard was preceded in death by his parents; three sisters and their spouses, Edythe Gant (John), Ethel Reynolds, and Doris Flora (Harold); and three brothers and their spouses, Lester Coe (Ruth), Lloyd Coe (Delora) and Leroy Coe (Evelyn).

A graveside memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. on Monday, August 17, 2020, at the Union Cemetery in Glencoe, Oklahoma.