Marion Lauretta "Rita" Coley

Marion Lauretta (Rita) Coley, a longtime resident of Ephrata, Washington, passed away peacefully on March 8, 2026, at Confluence Health Hospital in Wenatchee. She was 79 years old.

Born on May 7, 1946, in Monroe, Louisiana, Rita was the second of six children born to Marion Lawrence and Barbara Lucille (Wade) Simmons. At the age of ten, with her parents’ blessing, she followed her maternal grandparents and older sister Jeanie into baptism as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Her faith remained a guiding force throughout her life; she studied the gospel deeply and lived with quiet devotion to the teachings of Jesus Christ. From an early age she displayed a remarkable memory, able to recite poems and childhood verses verbatim well into her later years.

Rita graduated in the top ten percent of her high school class in 1964. She played the violin and traveled with her school band to Asheville, North Carolina, to perform in a multi-school concert. Gifted with a strong command of the English language, she excelled in creative writing and found particular joy in composing poetry.

In 1966 she was sealed for time and eternity to Mickey T. Wright in the Salt Lake Temple. Together they raised six children: Cynthia Yvette Bradford (Joe), Stephen Todd Wright (Jessica), Ronald Jared Wright (Chrystal), Nathan Kurtis Wright (Suzanne), Alisa Nicole Flores (Daniel), and Jennifer Lynette Morrill (Eldon). After Mickey’s death in 2005, Rita married her teenage sweetheart, William E. (Bill) Coley, in November 2006. They shared nineteen loving years together. With Bill’s encouragement, she gathered her poetry and self-published it in a book titled “Trailing Clouds of Glory,” preserving her creative work for family and friends.

Rita was preceded in death by her parents and her older sister, Jeanie Tolbird (Paul). She is survived by her siblings Yvonne Lee (Peter), Elaine Rademaker (Cliff), Wade Simmons, and Marlene Simmons, as well as her six children, one step-daughter, twenty-seven grandchildren, nine step-grandchildren, and fifteen great-grandchildren. She was one of a kind and will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved her.