SANCTUARY
St. Alban's Episcopal Church
Vol. 10 No. 4 (April 2013)
rector's Message
Lent and Holy Week are over for this season of our lives together as a church. We’ve journeyed through the forty days,
experienced the highs and lows, and then celebrated the glory
and the mystery of the resurrection.
It’s been quite a trip, as it is each year. But the question that comes up after a day or so is "What now? What do
we do now that Easter has passed?"
The answer is that it hasn’t passed! We still have the
great fifty days of the Easter season. Our church paraments
and vestments are white and we burn the Paschal candle first
and use the fire, the light, to extend the light to the altar, to the
church, to the entire world.
Easter is not over after the Eucharist on Sunday.
That’s just the beginning. We still have fifty days to celebrate,
to be in the Easter season.
(continued on page 4)
Elberton, Georgia
April dates
•
Sunday worship at
10:30 a.m., preceded by
Sunday School (Adults
and Children) 9:30–10
a.m. Coffee and light
food available downstairs
before church.
•
Bible Study Mondays at noon, except
April 1 (Monday following
Easter Sunday).
•
April 3 Eucharistic
planning meeting 10 a.m.
•
April 8 Vestry meeting 6 p.m.
Prayers & Sympathy
•
Melanie Albertson; Marian Bing; Nicola Britton; John Coggins;
Betty and Richard Edmunds; Carolyn Hagins; John, Holly,
Collin, and Bailey Jenkins; Marcia Jenkins; Carole Oglesby
and family; Lanita Phillips; Julie Poole; Mytra Randall; Pete
and Dottie Smith; Jackie Stacks; Tommy Warren; Veronica
Woodall.
•
April 13 Sowing
Seeds of Ministry Fair, St.
Gregory's, Athens, 9 a.m.
to 3:30 p.m.
April 14 SafeHouse
collection Sunday.
Transitions
B. Frank Coggins Jr. passed away on March 4, 2013. (See
pages 2 and 3.)
Marilyn Slocumbe lost her brother, Jerry Neal, on March 14,
2013.
The Rev. Anne E. Meroney has been called as rector of All Angels', Eatonton (Fr. John's former church).
April Birthday
Ray Jefferson, April 14
SANCTUARY
Page 2
B. Frank Coggins Jr. (1927–2013)
B. Frank Coggins Jr., passed away Monday, March 4, 2013.
Born in Atlanta on July 14, 1927, Frank was the son of the late Burton F. Coggins and Lollie
Kimble Coggins. He is survived by three loving daughters, Mary Aillene Coggins of Atlanta, Nancy
(Joel) Seymour of Elberton, and Sarah (Matthew) Williams of Athens; three grandchildren, Franklin
and Elizabeth Whitworth, Christopher Whitworth, and Graham Williams. He is also survived by a
brother, John Kimble (Carole) Coggins, and a number of nieces and nephews. He is preceded in
death by his beloved sister, Anne Coggins DeBorde.
In addition to the above, he is survived by his loving caregivers, Lisa Worley, Sandra Massey,
Linda Hogsed, Lynelle Aaron, Julie Saylers, Jackie Rhodes Smith, and Patty Morrison. Also surviving are his business associates, Judy Carroll and Shirley Shell McNeely.
Frank attended E. Rivers Elementary School in Atlanta and Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia, and graduated from Marist College in Atlanta. He attended four quarters at the
University of Georgia and enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps. He received an honorable discharge in
August 1946, then returned to UGA to resume his studies and graduated in 1948 with a degree in
Business Administration. Upon graduating, he came to Elberton to join his family business in 1949
and to make Elberton his permanent home. He served for a number of years as President of Coggins Granite, Inc., at one time the largest and most modern granite quarrying and manufacturing
company in the United States and Canada. He was a member of the Elberton Granite Association
where he served as President in 1967–68, the American Monument Association, Elberton Elks
Lodge, Elberton Rotary Club where he served as President 1974–75 and had perfect attendance for
42 years, the Elberton Country Club, and Game Coin International. He also had the honor of being
in the Advanced Management Program at Emory University which he completed in 1961.
Through his love for his community, he worked tirelessly in the 60's and 70's to recruit industry for Elberton. He attended numerous seminars to educate himself on the aspects of attracting
industry and spent untold hours on many projects. In 1972, the biggest success was the carpet
backing operation of A. Jalil. Frank was so convinced that this would be good for Elberton, he and
his family arranged to purchase the bonds covering the cost of the building to assure that the plant
would locate in Elberton. He was recognized several times with The Community Service Award by
the Chamber of Commerce. In 2001, he had the distinction of being the first to receive the Chamber
of Commerce Ambassador Award. With that award came the words, "our Ambassador has demonstrated over and over again that the interest of Elbert County holds a higher calling than personal
interest." He valued so highly the possibility of a technical college in Elbert County that he donated
42 acres of prime real estate to benefit Athens Technical College and the people of this region. He
waged a relentless campaign for the four-laning of Highways 72 and 17 and has been ever vigilant
to promote the development of Lake Russell State Park and Arrowhead Pointe Golf Course. These
are only a few of the many visionary projects Mr. Coggins has undertaken to benefit Elbert County.
His undying love for Elberton and Elbert County can be seen through his generosity where
the entire community benefited to some degree. He has donated land for many projects including Athens Technical College's Elbert County Campus, Elbert County Library, Elberton Christian
Church, Samuel Elbert Academy, Love in Action Church, Jehovah's Witness Church, American Legion, and numerous others. In addition to land donations, monetary contributions have been made
(continued on p. 3)
Page 3
(B. Frank Coggins cont'd)
to civic and charitable organizations, as well as local law enforcement agencies and Elbert County
Government. Frank and his siblings, John and Anne, honored their father by funding the B. F. Coggins Sr. Tennis Complex at McWilliams Park.
His hobby was working, although he did indulge in several trips abroad for hunting expeditions including numerous trips to Africa, Nepal, and South America. He later became acquainted
with the island chain, Turks and Caicos, British West Indies. So fond of Providenciales, the major
island in the group, he acquired a home there and spent several months each year at the location
overseeing the land holdings of his company.
Frank was dedicated to his church, St. Alban's Episcopal, which he attended faithfully until
his health started to fail. He had served in numerous positions at his church including Treasurer and
Senior Warden.
Funeral services were held on Wednesday, March 6, at 3 p.m. at the Elberton First United
Methodist Church with the Rector of St. Alban's Episcopal Church, The Reverend John Keeler, officiating. A private family ceremony was held at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church prior to visitation.
A private burial was held at Forest Hills Memorial Park in the Coggins Family Plot. Pallbearers were Franklin Whitworth, Christopher Whitworth, Joel Seymour, Matthew Williams, Jim Stovall,
and Walter McNeely. Allen Nicas served as honorary pallbearer.
(Left) When this photo was made at the Diocesan Convention of January 1960, Frank
Coggins (second from left) was St. Alban's
newly elected senior warden. On the far left
is Peyton Hawes, who was the retiring senior
warden; he had served in that capacity for
twenty years.
(Right) A photo taken September 7, 2008, on the occasion of the visit of Bishop
Keith Whitmore to St. Alban's.
After the Eucharist, there
was a lunch for the bishop at
Nancy and Joel Seymour's
home.
"All things work together for good to them that love God, to
them who are the called according to his purpose."
—Romans 8:28
(Rector's Reflection)
That’s great news, because we get to continue
our journey to live into the
promises that we made, or
that were made for us, at
our baptism and that we
renewed at the Easter Vigil.
The promise that we really believe God’s promise
that the light will always be
with us in the world. Our
promise to carry the light
from the Paschal candle
out into our community,
through the great fifty days
and beyond.
Our journey is just beginning.
Fr. John+
Sanctuary is produced
monthly by
St. Alban's Episcopal
Church
109 Brookside Drive,
Elberton, GA 30635
The Rev. John Keeler,
Rector
Website: http://www.
stalbans-elberton.org
Tel.: 706-283-4563
Email:
[email protected]
Soup Suppers
Our soups this year had an international flavor. Following Anne
Jaudon's quintessentially American vegetable soup, we savored
Irish (Marilyn Slocumbe), Creole
(Nancy Seymour), and Italian
(Debra Romine) soups/stews.
This year's speakers did a
splendid job. We have heard
Don and Sue Beitzel a number
of times, but this year's detailing
of the types of people they service at SafeHouse gave us new
insight into their work and needs.
Dr. Tracy Williams, a veterinarian
from Hartwell, told us what it is
like to go as a medical missionary
to the animals of Africa and Latin
America. Our own Nancy Seymour updated us on the agreement between Elbert Memorial
Hospital and AnMed, and Mike
Johnston, head of pastoral services at AnMed, talked about his
work with patients.
(Top) We learned new
facts about our members.
Who knew Charles Duke
baked bread? (Center)
Steve Jenkins introduced
Dr. Williams. (Bottom)
Marilyn Slocumbe cooks
up Irish stew in a crockpot
donated by Anne Jaudon.
(The St. Alban's kitchen
also has a new griddle
thanks to Debra Romine.)