- Date Of Birth: April 26, 1919
- Date Of Death: August 14, 2015
- State: Idaho
Fred “Freddie Babe” Wallace Coker, born April 26, 1919, passed away August 14, 2015 at St. Alphonsus in Boise, Idaho to be joined with his beloved wife and soul mate of 42 years, Darlene Coker.
He started his life in California where he attended school until the tenth grade only to return home from war and get his diploma in 1951. Fred served in the Army from February 3, 1941 until being honorably discharged on October 19, 1945.
Upon his return from war, Fred was a milkman for Adohr Milk Farms in Southern California starting at 8 cents an hour. When he reached 25 cents, he bought himself a brand new Dodge Dart right off the showroom floor for $4,000. He worked for Adohr for 40 years and worked for Thrifty’s Drug Store in California for 10 years before retiring. After receiving his Certificate of Training from the City of Manhattan in 1970, he worked part time for the Manhattan Beach Police Department as a reserve police officer and as a patrol security officer late night.
During this time he married, had 3 children, and then later divorced. Several years later Fred met his soul mate, Darlene Coker, where he moved to Boise, Idaho in 1994 to live the life they loved. He enjoyed a little bit of everything: bowling, playing pool, darts, camping, fishing, boating, family and most of all he loved gambling. It all started with cards in Vegas and later turned into slots on a regular basis. He was a regular and well known patron at Les Bois, Boise and at Cactus Pete’s in Jackpot, Nevada. He was a winner most of the time and would love to show you his tricks to hitting the jackpots. Fred was the type of person who could still cut the rug at 96 and even at his age, could get to any slot machine faster than anyone we know. He was so proud to have renewed his driver’s license at 96.
Fred was the last surviving member of his family and leaves behind one son, Fred Coker, Jr (Sheri); four daughters, Jeannie Kittelmann (Rick), Joannie Newsom, Jannie Getzfrid (Greg), and Susan Williams (Tom); 12 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren.
