The world will be a little less bright without them.

John and I were buddies through the "Wonder Years"; the school, the park, the stamp club, the entire Hollywood world...sadly we lost touch as we moved through our separate lives.

I spent the time after Dec 9th waiting for the right time to call John and share with him my deep condolences at his loss of Dottie...but, as it is wont to do, time ran out. Through other friends from that special time back when, I knew of John and Dottie's very special and loving relationship. Knowing my buddy as I did, despite the separation of the years between us, I'm sure they're back together again.

God bless them and give them peace, and all of the family and many friends who grieve for them now.

We have been out of town for a few days and just came back and was not aware of John's death. Very sorry to hear about this and to have missed all the arrangements. Prayers and blessings to the family.

Dear John and Dottie, our friends for 60 years. You both will be greatly missed but never forgotten. Your memory will stay with us forever. Terry and Pat West

My thoughts and prayers for such a wonderful family. I had the privilege of getting to know John and Dottie over the last couple years. He is one of sweetest and generous men I have ever met. He also had a great sense of humor. I grew very attached to him and wish I could've gotten to know him before I did. The love and devotion he had for his wife is something you don't see much anymore. The world needs more like John and Dottie Coker. I LOVE YOU RUSTY AND CASEY! Always here for you.

Rest in Peace, you will be missed by all. God Bless

Heartfelt condolences to my fellow cheerleader, John Billy Coker. You will be leading cheers in Heaven forever more.

Igrew up with John and Dottie in Hollywood, John wrote "I Miss Hollywood"
John was a true life long and gifted friend.
Elaine B Mcadams

"I Miss Hollywood" by JohnCoker
 
Although we didn't realize it at the time, wasn't it a great place to be growing up, to be a young teen. Those golden, warm summer days when we would gather at Hollywood Park and play paddle tennis, box hockey, and left field ball. (The latter because many times there were not enough players to have a regular nine on nine softball game.) You could ride your bike or walk all over the neighborhood, and there were plenty of vacant lots or fields to play a pick-up game of football, or many variations of what we called chase.

Adult softball was still pretty much a spectator sport, and Hollywood Park was a popular diamond for the city's adult leagues. (Remember Buck Miller ?)

And weren't we naive and innocent about things!! The Hollywood girls usually wore shirts, short, and sneakers. Those good lookin' legs kept our male hormones working overtime. But we never would have engaged in the kind of talk and behavior that seems common place now. Just the sight of a little skin was something! I think about how we used to play "spin the bottle" in someone's back yard and we thought we were being so exciting. And, to us, we were! I think it was a better time to learn about sex and love and lust, and especially respect.

There were many places to have an adventure; the Hollywood Dump, the Wolf River, and hitchin' a ride to Raleigh,( which seemed a lo-o-ng way out ) so that we could swing from a tree and drop into the river. One of my buddies swung out and, just as he let go he thought he saw a snake in the water below. I never say anybody try to fly, or at least levitate, the way he did before he hit the water.

There were the Saturday matinees at the Hollywood Theater, with Mr. West patrolling the aisles to make sure that we behaved ourselves. He really always fought a losing battle there. I remember leaving school at lunch to eat at Well's Cafe, although we weren't supposed to. And later, when Ma and Pa Sandlin bought the old Four Buddies Cafe we would eat lunch there instead of at school. (Ma and Pa would let us guys run up a tab through the week, just as long as we paid our bills on Saturday after we got paid from places like Hogue and Knott ,Craddock's Drug Store or Russell's Pharmacy. My favorite lunch was tamales, crackers, and a coke.) Of course another reason why Sandlin's was so popular was that Joy Sandlin was pretty cute and popular!! And I'll bet that, at times, the Craddock's wished that we would congregate someplace else after school instead of the corner in front of their store.

It was a place where we could play out until the street lights came on with no thought of any harm coming to any of us. We went to church to learn about God, we fumbled through learning about sex at the movie and in the back of our parent's cars. Ms. Jaffee taught me enough English to get me through high school and two years of college. She also taught a lot of us to write a little and to appreciate reading.

Remember Mr. Bailey's bakery, where you could watch the do-nuts being cooked right before your eyes? Because of his gruff nature we called him Bulldog Bailey, but he was O.K. I felt bad when the H & M bakery came on board and, eventually, forced Bailey to close his place. ( I didn't feel so badly that it kept me from leaving school and eating lunch from the H & M, however.)

We knew the names of the police officers who patrolled Hollywood and they knew most of our names, and where we lived!!! A few times they would cruise by the street corner that we were gathered on and suggest that we go home. And we usually did.

Hollywood was more like a small town than a community within a city. And the friends that we made then are still friends now. I still remember that Buck Thomas' mother made cornbread that I liked better than cake. And Mrs. Riddle who lived across the street from my family had a cow and churned her own butter.

We learned to play sports without the benefit of some frustrated adult trying to live out their fantasies all over again. We also learned that losing wasn't the end of the world, just the end of the game. And we knew there would always be another game. 

Guys that I remember, Buck Thomas, Howard Henry, Bobby Whitaker, Red Strickland, Hoot Johnson, Jimmy Baker, Thomas Graham, Marvin Sanders, Frank Davenport, Bubba Phifer, Bill Greenslade, Tommy Lemmons, Bobby Koch, Ralph Doyle, Bobby and Jimmy Moore, Richard Pilgrim, Richard Martin, Pat and Gene Tartera, Ace Cannon, Martin Willis, Larry Cresswell and there are many others.

And all the girls I've known, Dottie Taylor whom I have loved for over fifty years, Claudia Riddle, Shirley and Rena Mason, Sue Hall, Virginia Hatch, Elaine Brademeyer, Shirley Sullins, Irma Phifer, Pat Caudell, Doris Brown, Betty Livingston (who used to play the organ so well ) Shelby Coleman, Joy Carden, Delores Duckworth, Joyce Brandon, Patsy Shoemaker and many others.

And whatever happened to Billy Gatlin, Robert Brown, or Rena Gallina? ( Robert Brown used to pop Rena's bra strap in Ms. Jaffee's English class and never got caught!!)

But Hollywood was more than a place, it was an attitude, a time in history that's long gone. Where you could hitch a ride to Dave Wells or National Cemetery without worrying about getting shot or whatever. Where, on Halloween, people would invite you in when you went trick or treating and would give you caramel popcorn balls and hot chocolate. It was the Hollywood Canteen where many of us painfully learned to dance.

A time before air conditioning closed all windows, and you could smell what the neighbors were cooking and, sometimes, wished you were having dinner with them. When us boys would begin to go barefoot as soon as school was out and, by the end of summer, the bottoms of our feet were probably as tough as shoe leather. And the music, ahh the music. No rap, no vulgar lyrics, even Elvis was a few years away. 

Whimsical songs like Johnny Ray's "Little White Cloud That Cried" and Nat Cole singing about " Nature Boy". And, one of my favorites, Kitty Lester singing "Love Letters Straight from The Heart." And there was Dewey Phillips and his "Red Hot and Blue" program, remember? And what station was "Sleepy Eyed John" on?

And is it just my bad memory but weren't race relations better then than now? Do you suppose it's because there were a lot more functional families, both white and black? I do. And the black families had more to be angry about then, everything was segregated!!

We were lean and active. No watching TV six or seven hours a day. And most of the mischief we got into was mild, no guns or gangs. 

It was before we started building backyard patios and fences; you could walk down the sidewalk and people sitting on the front porch or steps would speak, inquire how your parents were or why weren't you in church last Sunday. 

Wasn't it great when you could save up enough money to go to the fairgrounds? The Pippin was always popular, but I also liked a ride called "The Whip".  And there was always the story about snakes being in the water in the "Old Mill".

Black and white TV burst on the scene and only a few people I knew had one. There was a guy, Earl Ramsey, his family had one. They lived on Hubbard, I think. And they would invite me over to watch wrestling, (from the downtown auditorium). The only problem was that it didn't come on until 9 P.M. and I could hardly stay awake until then. Sometimes I would fall asleep on the Ramsey's living room floor. 

Yeah, we did a few not-so smart things, too. The railroad ran just across the street and one lot from my front door. Several of us boys thought it was really exciting to hitch a ride on one of the boxcar ladders and drop off when the train slowed as it crossed Hollywood Street. The only problem was that sometimes it didn't slow very much and there were some bunged up knees and ankles. (Could have been worse.) Almost the same scenario- some guys used to hop in the back of the seed trucks leaving Buckeye Cotton Oil Company with the idea of getting off at the intersection of Hollywood and Chelsea. But, again, sometimes the trucks didn't have to slow or stop and every once in a while it was a long walk or a hitch-hike back to Hollywood. 

Just think how corny the kids of today, with their Ipods, video games, and cable TV, would think of us. We played "mumbelty" peg with dull knives in the park, we played kick the can in the middle of our neighborhood streets, and girls and boys played hop-scotch drawn out on the sidewalks with a big piece of chalk that was thrown to us from one of the passing train engines.   

No, we didn't realize it then, but it was a time of charm and grace and innocence that is no longer with us. But I'm glad I was there and can remember some of it, aren't you?

And I'll bet some of you remember a lot more that I have left out. 

- John Coker

My thoughts are with the Coker family at this time. I enjoyed many good times with John and Dottie through 40 years at the lake. My Dad worked with John at Buckeye and back in the day shared more than a few rides to work together when we all lived in Raleigh. Truly a great man who loved his wife and family and did all he could to insure they were happy and loved. He set the bar for a lot of fathers out there. I'm going to miss his smile and his boyish enthusiasm, but he will never be forgotten. Watch over us all John.

You have my condolence. May the true God comfort you in these distressing times.

OBITUARY

John Billy Coker

February 9, 1937 – December 27, 2014

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