Randall (“Randy”) Kelley Coggin, 69, passed away on June 9, 2023, after a lengthy battle with Parkinson’s Disease.
Randy was born September 14, 1953, in Newnan to parents Larry and Dorothy. He graduated from Newnan High School in 1971 and attended Auburn University, joining the Sigma Chi fraternity. He then took time away from school to work as an undercover narcotics agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
The long hair, grungy clothes, motorcycles, and undercover investigations concerned his family but ignited his passion for law enforcement. He wanted to be a prosecutor, so he worked and went back to school, graduating from Georgia State University in 1982, and the University of Georgia School of Law in 1985. He went on to obtain a Master of Laws from the Atlanta Law School.
Randy spent the next 30 years as an Assistant District Attorney in the Newnan and Griffin judicial circuits. He predominantly served as the Chief Assistant District Attorney in the four-county Griffin circuit, interrupting his service for a few years only to serve as an Administrative Law judge.
If ever someone was made for a profession, Randy was made for law. Randy was blessed with an almost encyclopedic memory for most everything in life including case law. He was tremendous in the courtroom. Then far too early, in 2014, Parkinson’s forced retirement from the job Randy loved.
Randy was a lifetime member of the Newnan First United Methodist Church. He especially enjoyed his Agape Sunday School Class. He rarely missed class, loved its members and enjoyed his times teaching. It was in church in about 1987 that Randy answered a plea from the pulpit to help with the church’s associated Boy Scout Troop 41.
Randy jumped in and began twenty-five years of dedicated service to Boy Scouts, ensuring the church’s scout troop would be there for his own son and countless others as it was for him. He was soon an Assistant Scoutmaster and became the Scoutmaster and Chartered Organization Representative for the troop for many years.
Randy poured himself into scouts, leading the troop on great trips like canoeing in the Okefenokee, sleeping on a battleship in Charleston Harbor, and hiking in the Talladega National Forest, running the Christmas tree lot with scouts and dads and making a special effort to encourage boys through the program to earn their Eagle Scout. Through that program Randy made a significant lifetime impact on many young men.
Randy was an avid, if tortured, golfer, loved reading, Auburn football, and his dogs, but most important to him was his family and children. He will be missed greatly.
Randy is survived by his children Randall (Abby) Coggin, Sarah Beth (David) Luzum, and Catherine (Cody) Ferbrache, grandchildren Kira Coggin, Kelley Coggin, Thomas Luzum, Henry Luzum, and August Ferbrache, mother and stepfather Nathan and Dorothy Branton, sister Carol (Brad) Kohl, and brother David (Cathy) Coggin.
The family would like to extend their gratitude to Abby Coggin, Randy’s daughter-in-law, who was Randy’s primary caregiver for his last years. They would also like to sincerely thank Teresa Gail Thompson and her daughters who also cared for Randy his last year.
Condolences may be expressed to the family at www.mckoon.com
Funeral services will be held Saturday, June 17, 2023 at 11:00 AM in the sanctuary of First United Methodist Church, 33 Greenville St., Newnan, GA with Rev. Charles Robinson officiating. Interment will follow at Forest Lawn Memorial Park.
The family will receive friends Friday, June 16, 2023 from 6-8 PM at McKoon Funeral Home 38 Jackson St. Newnan, GA. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to either the First United Methodist Church of Newnan at www.newnanfumc.org/give, or the Parkinson Voice Project at https://parkinsonvoiceproject.org/.
McKoon Funeral Home & Crematory (770) 253-4580
