The Rev. Joan Marie Henson Coates 
Coates | The Rev. Joan Marie Henson Coates, 68, died from cancer Nov. 14 in Washington, D.C. Bishop John R. Schol and Washington-Columbia District Superintendent David Argo participated in the memorial service with the Rev. Loretta Johnson at Jones Memorial UMC Nov. 19. Bishop Schol 'gave tremendous help to the family,' Johnson said, as he spoke of Coates' cancer as a curse. 'Cancer serves no good … yet through Joan's life came three 'P's', he said, referring to her three sons who are a physician, pastor and professor. Coates had a short ministerial career. She was ordained an elder in 2003. In 1998 when she was received on probation, she served Mt. Zion-Warren Charge in Barnesville. In 2001, she was appointed to First UMC in Laurel and in 2002 to Christ UMC in Washington. She went on incapacity leave the first of this year as a result of the recurrence of breast cancer, a disease she had conquered three times before. As a young person, Coates was a member of Asbury-Broadneck UMC. After high school, she moved to Washington, D.C., graduated from business school and joined the work force. In 1991, she retired from the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, after 23 years. She had also worked for the Federal Government for 10 years. During her years in Washington, she was an active member of Jones Memorial UMC, serving in many capacities, including speaker, teacher, leader of many committees and lay member to annual conference. She was also a member of the conference Black Methodists for Church Renewal. In 1993 she graduated summa cum laude from the University of the District of Columbia with a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy. She graduated from Wesley Theological Seminary in 1998. She married Walter T. Coates in 1970. She was previously married to Wade Jefferson and had three children. Survivors include her husband of 34 years; three sons, Dr. Michael Jefferson of North Ridge, Calif., the Rev. Kevin L. Jefferson, pastor of First AME Church in Alexandria, Va., and Philip N. Jefferson, a professor at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania; a step-daughter, Margaret Hall; four step-sons, Elmer Coates, Walter Coates, Clem May and Leroy Walter Coates, all of the Washington area; and eight grandchildren. Condolences may be sent to Walter T. Coates, 1914 Nova Ave., Capital Heights, MD 20743. Caroline Riefle Beatty 
Beatty | Caroline Riefle Beatty, 91, the widow of the late Rev. Charles David Beatty, died Nov. 11 at Asbury-Solomons Retirement Home after a short illness. Beatty was interred Dec. 1 in Arlington National Cemetery next to her husband. Caroline Riefle married Charles Beatty in 1937, the same year he entered the Pittsburgh Conference where they lived until he was commissioned into the Navy Chaplaincy in 1942. She met him when they were both members of the Duke University Chapel Choir. When he retired in 1962 they transferred to the Baltimore area, where she was raised. He served as associate pastor at Towson Methodist Church for two years then was appointed to Lovely Lane UMC in 1965. He remained there until his death just before Easter in 1975. During her years as a pastor's wife she played the piano and organ in the churches he served and was active with United Methodist Women at the local and conference level. In 1972 she earned a Master's degree from Johns Hopkins. She was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate. In 1977 Beatty moved to San Diego where she stayed for the next 20 years until her move to Asbury-Solomons to be near a daughter. She taught dozens of new immigrants to read English under the Laubach Literacy Program. Beatty loved worldwide travel and visited several countries on every continent except Antarctica. Survivors include three daughters: Carolin B. Head of Annapolis, Ann B. Welch of Oro Valley, Ariz., and U.S. Navy Capt. Florence Beatty, retired, of Pensacola, Fla.; two grandchildren and three great grandchildren. Condolences may be sent to Carolin Head, 111 Summerhill Drive, Annapolis, MD 21041. Memorial contributions may be made to Lovely Lane Restoration Fund, Lovely Lane UMC, 2200 Saint Paul St., Baltimore, MD 21218-5897. | 
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