Passings: B. Frank Coggins Jr.

B. Frank Coggins Jr., 85, onetime president and chairman of Coggins Granite Inc., in Elberton, Ga., on March 4.

Born in Atlanta on July 14, 1927, Coggins joined the family stone business in Elberton in 1949 after serving in the U.S. Marine Corps and earning a business administration degree from the University of Georgia. He served for a number of years as president and then as chairman of Coggins Granite, which once ranked as one of the larger granite quarrying/manufacturing companies in North America.

Frank Coggins Jr.Coggins became part of the Elberton Granite Association, and served as the group’s president in 1967-68. He also was a member of the American Monument Association.

Coggins also worked tirelessly to promote the economic development of Elberton; he helped bring a flooring-materials manufacturer to the area in the early 1970s by purchasing (along with his family) the bonds to fund construction of the company’s building. Among other local achievements, he helped bring technical education to the region by donating 42 acres of prime real estate to benefit Athens Technical College, and campaigned for the widening and improvement of local highways.

He also donated land for various projects involving Elbert County Library, Elberton Christian Church, Samuel Elbert Academy, Love in Action Church, Jehovah’s Witness Church, American Legion and others, along with financial contributions to charities, civic groups and local law-enforcement agencies. Along with his brother and sister, he also funded the B.F. Coggins Sr. Tennis Complex in memory of their father.

He was recognized several times for community service by the local chamber of commerce; in 2001, he had the distinction of being the first to receive the Chamber of Commerce Ambassador Award.
He later became acquainted with the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean; he acquired a home in Providenciales, the major island in the group, and spent several months each year there.

Coggins is survived by a brother John Kimble Coggins; three daughters, Mary Coggins, Nancy Seymour and Sarah Williams; three grandchildren; and a number of nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by his father and mother, Burton F. and Lollie Kimble Coggins; and a sister, Anne Coggins DeBorde.

Services and burial were March 6 in Elberton.

Memorials may be made to St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Elberton, the Frank Coggins Jr. Endowment at the Elbert Memorial Hospital Foundation in Elberton, or to a charity of choice.