* Margaret Homer Coultas; Ojai Educator

Longtime Ojai educator Margaret Homer Coultas died Wednesday after a long bout with cancer. She was 82.

An Ojai Valley resident for 51 years, Coultas was born in Ventura on Oct. 27, 1916. She graduated from Ventura High School and attended UC Berkeley, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education in 1937.

As a physical education teacher in Ventura, she met and later married James A. Coultas, who died in 1981. They were married for 42 years.

The couple moved to Ojai in 1946 to run a family-owned citrus ranch in the valley’s east end. After raising two children, Margaret Coultas returned to teaching in 1954 at Matilija Junior High School. She taught physical education for 23 years, retiring in 1977. She was also the dean of girls.

An avid golfer, Coultas was a member of the Soule Park Women’s Golf Club. She was also a member of the Ojai Hospital auxiliary, UC Berkeley Alumni Assn., Gamma Phi Beta sorority and Prytanean Honor Society.

Before her death, Coultas told family members that she had lived a long, happy life.

“I’ve had a wonderful life, wonderful parents, wonderful husband and wonderful children,” she said.

She is survived by daughter Terry Coultas Wilson of Ojai; son James W. Coultas of Ojai, and granddaughters Tracy Lyn Wilson of Ventura and Kali Lynn Coultas of Ojai.

Private services will be held Saturday at St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Ojai.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Cancer Society or the Ojai Humane Society.

Arrangements are being handled by Clausen Funeral Home, Ojai.

Ventura County obituaries are published free of charge as a public service to readers. Obituaries are based on information provided by mortuaries.