Rash's Surname Index
Notes for Caroline Pennock COATES
Caroline Pennock Coates Spiller of California Caroline Pennock Coates Spiller passed away of natural causes at age 93 years, on June 26, 2011 at St. Joseph's Health and Retirement Center in Ojai, California. Caroline was born Caroline Pennock Coates in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on August 11, 1917. Her parents were Dr. Charles E. Coates from Baltimore, Maryland, Dean of the College of Pure and Applied Science and Dean of the Audubon Sugar School at Louisiana State University, and Ollie Maurin Coates from Donaldsonville, Louisiana. Caroline received a bachelor of design degree from Sophie Newcomb College, New Orleans, in 1938, where she was a member of Pi Beta Phi. She attended the Pennsylvania Academy of The Fine Arts, in Philadelphia. In 1939, she studied at the Arts Students League in New York City. When she returned from N.Y., Caroline completed a masters in art education degree at LSU. She received the Centennial Award for "Neighbors", a watercolor and gouache painting of her neighborhood at Lake Park Drive, a district of Baton Rouge near the former LSU campus. "Neighbors" was displayed in the Delgado Museum, New Orleans in 1942. Kent Woodlands near San Francisco became Caroline's home after her marriage to Dr. Elisha Blassingaime (E.B.) Spiller in 1943. Dr. Spiller passed away in 1997. The couple have three surviving children, Susan Coates Spiller Acquistapace of Berkeley, Steven Thayer Spiller of Nevada City, and Jane Manship Spiller of Ojai; and seven grandchildren, Lindsay Coates Spiller of Los Angeles, Katherine Singletary Spiller of New York, Anna Maurin Acquistapace of Oakland, Marian Elliot Acquistapace of Oakland, Ross Blassingaime Spiller of San Francisco, Caroline Canniff Acquistapace of Oakland, and Elizabeth Lillian Coates Spiller of Ojai. During the early years of her marriage, Caroline worked at Higgins Aircraft, New Orleans. Her contribution to WWII war effort was to translate blueprints into 3-dimensional drawings to aid construction of aircraft. Caroline and E.B. moved to California when the Army sent Dr. Spiller to Letterman Hospital to care for soldiers returning from the Pacific theatre in 1946-47. Caroline was active with The California Native Plant Society, and the native plant propagation nursery of the Strybing Arboretum (now San Francisco Botanical Garden). Her specialties were germination of Rhododendron occidentale and Trillium sp. She is also co-author of the book Wild Lilies, Irises and Grasses: Gardening with California Monocots. An oral history resides in The LSU Libraries' Special Collections in Baton Rouge. During her long life Caroline delighted all with her tranquil demeanor, charm, creative talent, superb cooking, and her wild and wonderful home and garden, in which friends and family spent many happy times.
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