Obituary for Tommy Coates
MERIDIAN, Miss. (WTOK) -Funeral services for Mr. Graham C. “Tom” Coats, III will begin at 12:30 PM Saturday, December 13, 2025, at Robert Barham Family Funeral Home chapel. Interment will follow graveside rites at Graham Cemetery, on Valley Road. The Coats Family will receive guests from 10:30 AM until 12:15 PM prior to funeral rites. Robert Barham Family Funeral Home is honored to be entrusted with the arrangements.
Mr. Coats, 85, of Meridian, went to be face to face with his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Saturday, December 4, 2025, at his daughter’s home.
Tom was involved in many ventures throughout the years, including managing The Threefoot Building, founding the Threefoot Deli, and The Meridian Brakeman Baseball Team, always expressing his entrepreneurial spirit. He was a graduate of Mississippi State University class of 1962 where he majored in Mechanical Engineering. He spent many years in the Aerospace Industry working in Thermo-Dynamics, with companies such as Boeing, Lockheed-Martin, and eventually retiring with McDonald-Douglas. His family often teased him of being a rocket scientist. After his retirement in Aerospace, he took over management of the family business, Coats & Coats Personnel Consultants. Tom was a Real Estate Broker in Meridian for 20 years at Century 21 Howell Realty. Tom was an outdoorsman who enjoyed fishing, horses, and tinkering on his tractor. He was a music lover and enjoyed pickin’ and grinnin’ with friends. He was Christian by faith and was a member of Berachah Church Houston, TX. Tom never met a stranger and was fiercely competitive; he loved to “Close the deal.”
Tom is survived by his wife of nearly 67 years, Erma “Genie” Coats; children, Liz Bosarge (Stu), Graham C. Coats, IV (Kelli), Ninette C. Garland, and Lela Linnenkohl (Jerry); Twelve Grandchildren, Twelve Great-Grandchildren; as well as a host of nieces, nephews, extended family members, and friends.
