Carl Elwood Coats, 84, of 328 Alleghany Street, Clifton Forge, Virginia, died Friday, August 9, 2013 at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salem, Virginia.

He was born in Newberry, South Carolina, on April 22, 1929, a son of the late J. Felton Coats and Mildred Ryals Coats.

Mr. Coats was a retired master mechanic with MeadWestvaco in Covington.

He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps from 1946 to 1949 and later in the Air Force Reserve during the 1960s. He was a member of the 38th Bomber Group Association.

Carl was a member of Curtis A. Smith Post 1033 Veterans of Foreign Wars of Covington and a lifetime member of the Disabled American Veterans Association.

He was a member of the Iron Gate Baptist Church.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Mary Elizabeth "Libby" Coats; two brothers, James and Clyde Coats, and by two sisters, Elizabeth Jones and Ruby Hughes.

He is survived by a daughter, Edith Darlene Coats Atkins of Knoxville, Tennessee; a son, Carl Berkley Coats of Fredericksburg, Virginia; a sister, Margaret Sheppard; 3 brothers, Billy M. Coats and Dewey L. Coats, both of South Carolina, and Jack H. Coats of White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia; a granddaughter, Jessica Griffin; 2 great grandchildren, Arabella and Audriana Griffin; and a number of nieces and nephews.

A Full Honor Military Ceremony will be conducted at a later date.

Funeral arrangements are being handled by Nicely Funeral Home, Clifton Forge.