Rita Frances Coates, 74, longtime area resident, passed away Wednesday, October 26, 2011 in Ft. Morgan. She was born at home on the farm south of Ogallala, Nebraska on April 26, 1937. She attended a 1 room school thru the 8th grade and then attended St. Patrick's Academy in Sidney, NE thru grade 12. She then took her nursing training at St. Joseph Hospital in Denver and was capped as an RN in 1958. She then worked as a nurse on the OB ward at Denver General Hospital. In 1962 when President John F. Kennedy announced he was forming the Peace Corps, Rita was in the first group of nurses that trained at Syracuse University for 3 months before being sent to Tanganyika (now Tanzania) in East Africa. As a child she always wanted to go to Africa. She spent 2 years there in the Peace Corps. While there Rita along with some of the other nurses and engineers decided to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. In 1962 not much hiking equipment was available. Her hiking boots were what had been her after ski boots, and there were no oxygen tanks to use. Not all of the people made it to the top because of oxygen sickness, but Rita made it to the top. They took 5 days up and 4 days back. They had one porter per person where today they have 5 or 6 porters per person . Rita took her discharge in Africa and then travelled thru out Northern Africa, spent a month working on a Kibbutz in Israel, travelled thru out Italy, and in Germany. While in Germany she stayed with a military couple in West Berlin and was able to successfully cross into East Berlin and back, in spite of the Berlin Wall. She then spent time in England with relatives. Upon returning to the United States she spent a year travelling from college to college recruiting for the Peace Corps. On September 25, 1965 she was married to Lynn Coates in Ogallala, NE. Rita and Lynn had 2 sons, Todd Coates of Cheyenne, WY and Matthew Coates of Pilot Hill, California. She is survived by sisters Peggy Beattie of Lakewood, CO, Alyce Jolovich of Torrington, WY, Sharron Leary of Chino Valley, AZ and 1 brother, John Lauderbaugh of North Richland Hills, TX. She is also survived by her grandchildren, Melissa Grigsby, Ian Coates, and Brandon Coates, all of Pilot Hill, CA. She is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews. In addition she is survived by her adopted family Michael Lubembela and Mawazo Samwele and their children Lili, Sabex, Thierry, Peter, Cleveland, Joyce, and Espoir. When they moved to Fort Morgan, Rita worked at the Fort Morgan Hospital and Valley View Villa. She then helped to establish Northeast Home Health Care using her dining room table as a desk. She left that to take a job with Dr. R.B. Richards and helped run his allergy clinic for 16 years. When Dr. Richards retired, Rita became the Director for Northeast Home Health Care again. Because it had been taken over by Banner Health Systems she then found opportunity to work with East Morgan County Hospital where she was the first Certified Care Coordinator/Case Manager for the hospital. She next became a Certified Diabetes Educator and established the Diabetes Education program for EMCH. In 2007 Rita retired after having been in the Nursing Field for approximately 50 years. Rita also was involved with CFO (Camps Farthest Out) which is an International Christian non-denominational organization that provides week long camps in the United States, Canada, and many other countries. She became a Rostered Speaker for CFO and was the speaker at camps in Colorado, South Dakota, Kansas, Wisconsin, and Calgary, Rita and her husband were members of St. Helena Catholic Church from 1970 until the present. She and her husband were both Lectors for Mass for 25 years, each was a Lay Eucharistic Minister for 3 years. Rita also taught CCD classes for the church. Rita was also active with the ESA Chapter Beta Epsilon, women's sorority, on the Adult Protection Team for many years, and recently had been a member of the Fort Morgan Library Board. She was preceded in death by her parents Francis Miles Lauderbaugh and Balbena Kowalski Lauderbaugh. Visitation at Heer-Dahl Mortuary will be on Tuesday, November 1, 2011 from 1:00-5:00 p.m. with the Rosary to follow at 6:00 p.m. Mass of Christian Burial will be on Wednesday, November 2, 2011 at 10:30 a.m. at St. Helena Catholic Church in Ft. Morgan.. Interment will follow in Memory Gardens. In lieu of flowers Rita would have wanted people to consider giving a donation to the American Cancer Society at 2255 S. Oneida, Denver, CO 80224, the American Diabetes Society at 1701 N. Beauregard Street, Alexandria, VA or to CFO (Camps Farthest Out). 317 S. Madison Ave., Watkins Glen, NY 14891. For more information about CFO you can view their web site at www.acfona.org.