Coates, Mabel (De Cou) died 1900

COATES, DE COU, HOLBROOK

Posted By: Reid R. Johnson (email)
Date: 2/15/2015 at 18:18:19

Postville Review, Fri., 23 Mar. 1900.

We are in receipt of the sad news of the death of Mrs. W. H. Coates, better known to her many friends of Ossian and vicinity as Mabel De Cou. It is doubly sad inasmuch as she had been a bride of but two weeks, having been married Feb. 17, 1900, to Mr. W. H. Coates, of Martindale, Mon., the Rev. Carleton F. Brown, of the First Unitarian church, officiating.

Mabel De Cou was born at Chetopa, Kansas, Nov. 28, 1870, and when still quite young came to make her home with her sister, Mrs. Chas Holbrook, at Ossian, Iowa, where she grew to womanhood. After graduating from the public schools under the principalship of Prof. F. C. Clark, she took up the study of music at the American Conservatory at Chicago. After graduating she continued her studies under Miss Amy Fay, one of the best of piano instructors. Miss De Cou organized classes at Ossian, Postville and Clermont and was uniformly successful as a music teacher. But ill health finally compelled her to relinquish her work in Iowa, and she left for Montana about two years ago, hoping that a change of climate might be beneficial. She apparently gained in health but was never entirely well. She was taken seriously ill with erysipelas two weeks after her marriage and died very suddenly at St. John's Hospital, Helena, Montana, Friday, March 2, 1900.

It is impossible to express in words the sorrow felt by relatives and friends on such an occasion. Mabel De Cou was a character beloved by all who had the privilege of becoming acquainted with her and we wish to extend our heartfelt sympathy to those who mourn. We can truly say "the world is better for her having lived."