Bobbie Bicknell Coray was born June 17, 1946. Coray travelled extensively in her youth due to her father’s career in the military. She attended schools in Turkey, Washington D.C., Colorado and Utah before graduating from Salt Lake City’s East High in 1964. After high school, Coray attended the University of Utah where she received a bachelor’s degree in education in 1972. While enrolled at the University of Utah she met her husband Chris Coray and the couple married in 1967. In addition to her degree in education, Coray also studied architecture at Idaho State University from 1973 to 1975.

Coray’s career in public service began with her position on the Hillcrest Elementary PTA council in 1976. She continued to serve in the public sphere and was appointed as Director of Economic Development for Cache County in 1985. In 1992 Pat Shea, the Utah Democratic gubernatorial candidate, requested that Coray be his running mate. After losing the race to Republican Michael Leavitt, Coray returned to state politics in 1994 as a challenger to Utah’s first district congressional representative, Jim Hansen. Hansen soundly defeated Coray, but she remained active in Utah politics, serving as the state liquor commissioner in the early 2000s. At the time of processing Coray lived with her husband in Garden City, Utah.