By Staff
July 24, 2006
Funeral for Thomas Brindley Coggin of Cullman will be Thursday (today), July 27, at 11 a.m. at Limestone Chapel Funeral Home in Athens with burial following at Athens City Cemetery.
Mr. Coggin died Monday, July 24, 2006, in an airplane accident in Hartselle. He was preceded in death by his parents, Edward Thomas and Fran Brindley Coggin of Athens.
He married Micki White of Athens in 1960 and graduated from Jacksonville State University in May 1962 with a major in mathematics and a minor in physics. He was commissioned a second lieutenant upon graduation and served in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from 1962 to 1964 and served in the Alabama Army National Guard for six years. Upon being discharged from the Army, he was employed at the Marshall Space Flight Center before enrolling in the Cumberland School of Law. He receives his Juris Doctorate from Cumberland in 1970 and was appointed assistant DA of Morgan and Madison Counties in 1971. He served as a circuit judge of Morgan County from 1972 to 1981. During that time he piloted a judicial computer system for the Alabama Administrative Office of Courts.
In 1979 he was married to Sallye Powell of Falkville. In 1980 he was arrested on possession of marijuana charges and after pleading guilty served his time as a model prisoner in the Florida prison system. After paying his debt to society, he returned to his residence in Falkville where he pursued a career in computer programming. Subsequently, he wrote groundbreaking computer programs in accounting and tax reporting. After semi-retiring he relocated to Cullman and pursued farming and woodworking interests.
Throughout his life, he enjoyed flying and held a pilot's license for over 30 years. He volunteered for Angel Flights to transport sick children for medical treatment. He also enjoyed traveling to exotic places in the Caribbean and South America. He survived a previous airplane crash without harm.
He is survived by his children, Cathy Shapiro and husband Brad, Brent Coggin and wife Tina, Christy McCartney and husband Dale, Caryl Shaw, Clair Frankel and husband Sam and Asa-Benton Brindley Coggin and wife Shannon; his grandchildren, Ian Burton Coggin Shapiro, Thomas Brindley Coggin III, James Collier Coggin, Logan Forest Williamson, Fran Brindley Shaw, and Kayleen Elizabeth Coggin; a brother, John D. Coggin and wife Paula of Centre; and two nieces, Gina Coggin-Price and husband Mark and Dana Coggin Gladden and husband Chad.