815 Orienta Ave. Suite 1030 Altamonte Springs, FL 32701

In Memory of Eileen Coe

April 23, 1961 – April 14, 2017

By Jennifer C. Frank

Eileen Coe

We at Frank Family Law Practice have had to say goodbye to my very dear friend, Eileen Coe.  Eileen fought so bravely to beat her illness, but it was not to be.  Eileen was taken from us long before she was finished raising and loving her children or loving her husband; and long before she was done helping clients build their families through adoption, surrogacy, and assisted reproductive technology.  I am reminded again that close and loving friends are so rare in this life and that when we find them we must hang on tight.  Eileen was that kind of friend and someone I will miss forever.

I met Eileen sometime around 1999 when she came to work as an attorney at the same firm in which I worked. We formed a special friendship from the beginning.  At that time she was in the process of marrying George Coe and starting a new chapter in her life.  Over the many years we changed law firms, I opened my own firm, we had babies, she started her firm, and of course we got older.  But our special friendship never really changed and we were always there for one another through life’s ups and downs.

Eileen was a graduate of University of Colorado and University of Denver College of Law and attended University of Regensburg in Germany.  Her life and career was devoted to the care and service of others. She served in the Peace Corps on the tiny island of Kiribati; an experience she described as life-changing.  She started her law career as a Public Defender both in Colorado and in Central Florida protecting the rights of those most in need.  After shifting away from criminal defense, she began building her legal experience in firms handling general practice and insurance defense.  Before long, she realized that she needed to follow her heart and pursue a practice of law where she could help clients build their families with long awaited-for children. 

Eileen’s had such an overwhelming sense of compassion for her clients.  She was always so willing to share the story of her own journey into parenthood and became the gentle and softly reassuring voice for those folks so anxious and so intent on becoming parents. The fact that she was able to play such a large role in making those dreams come true gave her such absolute joy as a lawyer.

Eileen was part of our firm family starting in 2011 where she operated Hope Adoption.  Ultimately Eileen merged her firm with us and continued building families as part of Frank Family Law Practice.  We are heartbroken by Eileen’s death but will carry with us her commitment to compassion and ethics, her generosity of spirit, and most of all her mission to be the best possible mother her two children could ever have.