William Eugene Coons

William “Bill” Eugene Coons, 88, passed peacefully in Pomerene, Arizona on December 26, 2019. He was born in Pomerene on August 30, 1931 to Clifford “Shorty” Coons and Alice Bertha Coons. Bill grew up in Pomerene and at age 16 joined the Navy where he served for 4 years during the Korean War. After serving in the Navy he served a full-time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the New England states. He met Shirley Eleanor Bennet (who was widowed) and her four children during this time. Shortly after returning home from his mission he married Shirley. They made their home in Pomerene and then later moved to Bisbee, Arizona where he worked for Phelps-Dodge as a machinist mechanic. During their time in Bisbee they added 3 more children to their family. In 1970 after the mines closed, he moved his family back to Pomerene where he worked at Apache Powder as a maintenance supervisor. In 1999, after 42 years of marriage, Shirley passed away. Shortly after Bill met and married Gayle Leuser who had two adult children from a previous marriage. They enjoyed spending time together and even served a full-time mission in Columbia, South Carolina. Gayle and Bill loved going on adventures across the US as well as local adventures on their ranger. Bill’s pride and joy was his family and all their accomplishments. He enjoyed gardening and was very proud to show off his hard work. Bill and Gayle always tried to attend important life events that happened within their family. Even when Bill’s health started to decline, he would try as hard as he could to be there for his family.

Bill was proceeded in death by his parents (Shorty and Alice), brother (Kent), his first wife Shirley, and a daughter who was stillborn.  He is survived by his 9 children, 26 grandchildren, 36 great-grandchildren, and 3 great-great-grandchildren.

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