Mary Suzanne Sunderlin Coats was born Feb. 27, 1935 and passed away Jan. 7, 2017. Mary was born 1-1/2 miles north of Stevenson, Wash., to Allen Thomas Sunderlin and Eva Marie Germaine Bougeois, his World War I bride. The family moved to Skamania, Wash., in 1936. She graduated from Stevenson High School in 1952 and moved to Vancouver where she attended Clark College while working at the State School for the Blind. Later, she joined the U.S. Air Force and was assigned to Weather School at Chanute Field, Illinois where she met and married Joseph Wiegman and finished at the top of her class. After that she chose McChord Field at Fort Lewis, where she was cleared for Secret and worked in the weather station and the aircraft tracing room. In succeeding years, she lived in Vancouver and in Seattle where she was again cleared for Secret and worked as a draftsman on the pressurized Section 47 bulkhead to the non-pressurized Section 49 and the yaw damper in the tail. Her husband transferred to Athens, Ga., so the family moved to the deep south where she found drafting employment. She later divorced her husband and returned to Vancouver. She worked at PacTel&Tel (now Qwest Century Link) as a draftsman where she met and married Robert Coats. They moved to an area just outside of Wilsonville, Ore. When the Wilsonville Times was created, Mary became the editor until 1978 when she was recruited by the West Linn School District to become the Public Information Secretary and then District Administrative Secretary. She was honored as Wilsonville Citizen of the Year in 1972. In 1974 she wrote the hundred-year history of the Frogpond Grange. She served as county press chairman for Secretary of State Norma Paulus last campaign, and as west county chair in the two successful state legislature campaigns of Ted Achilles, West Linn. She was a precinct chairman for Governor Tom McCalls last campaign. After divorcing, she moved to Oregon City and opened and operated Hydrangea Bed & Breakfast until her retirement in 2001. She won the Oregon Senior Spelling Bee and placed third in the nation. As well, she served on Oregon Citys legal budget committee, on the citys Civic Improvement board and was very active in support of the McLoughlin House. In 2003 Mary visited Europe with her son and grandson, in particular Ile de Re, France, her mothers birthplace. She had triple-bypass heart surgery in 2004 after which she managed to slow down a little bit to enjoy gardening and her grandchildren. She is survived by her children, Laura, Dana, Cheryl, and Evan; 11 grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandson. She was preceded in death by granddaughter, Genevieve Atwood. Suggested Memorials: McLoughlin House, Oregon City; Friends of the Columbia Gorge, Portland; Special Olympics; or any childrens or environmental nonprofit organization. A celebration of life will be held at 11 a.m., on her birthday, Feb. 27, 2017 at Hillside Chapel 1306 7th St., Oregon City, followed by interment at Willamette National Cemetery