Anna Coile Durham

Anna Armstrong Coile Durham died Saturday, March 7, 2026 surrounded by several members of her immediate family. Born May 28, 1928 in Knoxville, Anna was the daughter of Grace Anna Armstrong Coile of Knoxville and Eugene Leland Coile of Greeneville. Along with her parents, Anna was loved into adulthood by her two adoring aunts, Elizabeth and Clyde Armstrong, also of Caswell’s Station in Knoxville.

Anna started school in Knoxville at Sequoyah Hills School, moving to Nashville as a student at Peabody Demonstration School, before being graduated first in her class from the Collegiate School for Girls in Richmond, Virginia. In a showing of the sheer determination that would mark much of her later life, Anna overcame a high fever to deliver her valedictory address.

Stephens College was her next stop, but soon she was Vanderbilt bound. While at Vanderbilt, she met a handsome veteran of WWII, Walter Durham, in her political science class. Each of them had a grandfather who had served in the TN State Senate and their inherited and mutual love of politics became a shared interest in their relationship. Upon graduation from Vandy, she married Walter, and moved to Gallatin, TN where she spent most of her adult life.

While living in Gallatin and raising a family she was undeterred from continuing her own educational interests. Anna was an avid reader and never without something new to study. With her strong intellectual curiosity she began a serious and life long study of Austrian philosopher and metaphysician Rudolph Steiner and Anthroposophy. In addition to these studies she became interested in healthy eating and became committed to raising her family with forward thinking guidelines from pioneering and innovative nutritionists. As a result, few were the days that Anna allowed white sugar or flour to appear on the family menus and there was never a soft drink in sight. Anna later studied various healing practices at the Estuary in Nashville thoroughly committed to her interest in the three tiered model of mind, body and spirit healing.

Another of her great passions was providing access to mental health care and treatment. In the mid-1960s she co-founded the Sumner County Mental Health Services Center. Overcoming local doubt, she persevered, along with others, and was greeted with long lines sweeping out the front door and down the street at the Center soon after its opening. Serving as their first Board chair, Anna was a decades long supporter. She supported many other civic and historical organizations in Gallatin and was a life long member of Gallatin’s First United Methodist Church.

Throughout her life she enjoyed and was devoted to ballet, yoga, Pilates, and palm reading. She further enjoyed serving as unofficial editor, proof reader, index checker and footnote queen for Walter’s writings. And then there were the book signing after book signing trips.

A skillful Southern hostess, Anna entertained often with her own style of elegance, charm and wit. Many a wonderful dinner party or afternoon social at the Durham residence welcomed newcomers to Gallatin, celebrated marriages and babies, or provided others with more serious political or historical discussions.

Anna has four children: Anna Durham Windrow (Thomas Lanham) (Nashville), Robert (Bob) Coile Durham (Nashville), James (Jim) Franklin Durham (Lynee) (Brentwood), and Elizabeth Durham Lindsey (Savannah, GA); four grandchildren: Robert Leland Windrow (Dana) (Nashville), Samantha Lindsey Tavera (Jesus) (Alpharetta, GA), Stanley Doak Lindsey (Savannah, GA), Allison Lynee Durham (Lewis Rogers) (Nashville); and six great-grandchildren.

Burial services will be held privately at Crestview Cemetery in Gallatin. Memorials may be made to The Estuary, 3010 Poston Avenue, Suite 200, Nashville, TN 37203 or First United Methodist Church, 149 West Main St, Gallatin, TN 37066.