Wilma (Billie) Clydesdale Coe (94), residing in Estero, Florida, passed away on August 26th at Joanne’s House/Hope Hospice located in Bonita Springs, FL.
Private Burial services will be held on Wednesday, September 28th, at the National Cemetery in Bushnell, Florida, where she will rest alongside her adoring husband (Bill) William Harry Coe: a WWII US Navy veteran. Legacy Options Bonita Springs LLC is handling the funeral arrangements.
Billie was born in Pittsburgh, PA, on May 26, 1928. Graduating from Carrick Highschool in 1946, she then proceeded to work as an Executive Secretary for Mellon Bank / insurance division until she resigned to become a mother and full time homemaker.
Basement parties at her Bethel Park home were the place to be in her neighborhood on a Saturday night, but once Bill could retire from PA Bell, travel & adventure awaited around each bend. A Key West, FL, move happened in the early 80s (one of her fondest memories was being a member of the Red Shaw ladies/cruise ship group), but by 1992 they decided to move to The Villages, FL, and make that their next home base (Billie sang & performed in the local troupe doing Broadway plays & shows up until 2010 - her husband Bill helped create the shows’ stage props). Bill passed in 2014, and by 2015, Billie moved to Cape Coral, FL, to live with her son Rick up until his death in 2017.
Wilma is survived by her nieces - Nancy, Karen, Linda & Bonnie : nephews - Edward and Jeffrey (& their extended families of children & grandchildren). She is preceded in death by her husband William Harry Coe (Bill) of 63 years, son Richard (Rick) W. Coe and her sisters Alice White and Jean C. Will. Wilma was born in Pittsburgh, PA, the daughter of the late William C. Clydesdale and Alice M. (Auld) Clydesdale, both of whom were born in Scotland & settled in PGH, PA, in the 1920s.
The family is requesting memorial donations be made in her name to the Alzheimer’s Association (Florida). Her niece Karen wishes to extend her gratitude to all her friends on the Florida west coast for their assistance, love & support, for our family as we navigated thru her Alzheimer’s journey these last 5 years.