Obituary: William (Bill) George Coomes

Published 4:56 pm Monday, September 23, 2024

William (Bill) George Coomes was born on Feb. 20, 1940, in Grand Junction, Colorado, and passed away on July 16 in Seaside.

Bill worked at various jobs when he was in junior high school, making 50 cents an hour. After graduating from high school, he proudly served as a crew chief of an F-100 jet fighter in the Colorado National Guard, then worked in several Denver photographic studios.

In the 1970s, Bill moved to Bremerton, Washington, and then to Port Orchard, Washington. He worked at a JCPenney store, and there he met his future wife, Patty. After completing her college courses, Patty accepted a teaching job in Seaside.

In 1982 they married and Bill joined her in Seaside, where he worked various jobs, including working at The Daily Astorian, before they bought Haystack Gallery in Cannon Beach in 1985.

Getting up early, Bill loved to photograph nature in the soft morning light, or catch a beautiful sunset, and his photographs were popular items at the gallery. In his computer files are thousands of images that he captured.

Bill continued to work at the gallery for 15 years while battling Parkinson’s disease, which eventually it made it too difficult for him to continue. Patty ran the gallery until selling it in 2015.

Despite the challenges of Parkinson’s disease, Bill maintained his dry sense of humor. Before his death, he wrote love notes to Patty and left them throughout the house for her to find when he was gone, just to remind her how much he loved her.

One of the many blessings that Bill and Patty had was becoming legal guardians of Jason Bartlett in 1990, and they always considered him their son. Jason was very athletic, and they enjoyed attending Jason’s many sporting events. Jason greatly enriched their lives.

Bill was preceded in death by his father, Lee W. Coomes; his mother, Ida Mae Coomes; and a brother, Ronald Coomes.

Bill is survived by his wife of 42 years, Patty; Jason Bartlett and his wife, Kortney, and Jason’s two sons, Preston and Porter; a brother, Robert Coomes; a sister, Terry Long; and numerous nieces and nephews.

A celebration of life will be held at Cannon Beach Community Church, 132 E. Washington St., at 1:30 p.m. Sept. 28.

In lieu of flowers, Bill’s wish would be that you consider a donation to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.