Damon Floyd

Coggins

Damon Floyd Coggins, Sr., was born in Griffin, GA, on October 23, 1945, to the late Lewis Coggins, Sr., and Lillie May (Goodrum) Coggins.

Damon professed Christ at an early age and joined Heck Chapel Methodist Church in Griffin (a hub for the Civil Rights Movement) under the leadership of the late Rev. James Maynard Shopshire, who established the Griffin Chapter NAACP.

Damon graduated from Fairmont High School (Griffin, GA) in 1963. He then attended Tuskegee University (formerly Tuskegee Institute) from 1963-1967, with studies in Political Science. He was also a member of the Tuskegee Baseball and Football teams. He later earned his degree from Georgia State University.

Damon worked as a technician for AT&T in Birmingham, AL, and later transferred to Atlanta, GA in 1972. He retired from AT&T with over 35 years of service. He remained active after his retirement and began working with his brothers and cousins in the family's restaurants (Yasin's). He enjoyed cigars and once managed a cigar shop. He ran in the annual Peachtree Road Race and was proud to display the T-shirts and medals he received. He had quite a few hobbies that included playing golf, manicuring, and cutting the family lawn. He enjoyed that so much that he extended the courtesy to other family and friends. He even had a green thumb when it came to caring for the house plants.

In his earlier days, Damon took moments to read the newspaper daily with his tobacco pipe in hand. He liked to discuss the weather, politics, and was a fan of all sports. He traveled state to state playing softball with the team Don Swann. For years, he supported the Atlanta Falcons, becoming a season ticket holder with quite a bit of team memorabilia. He was also a fan of the Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Hawks and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. He liked to watch Westerns and later came to enjoy watching General Hospital with his daughter Dana. He would often reminisce about his childhood and loved sharing details of all aspects of his life with those he met.

Damon is preceded in death by his parents, Lewis Coggins, Sr., and Lillie May (Goodrum)Coggins, brother Franklin Coggins, sister Helen Coggins Quick, brother Carnell Coggins, brother Lewis Coggins, Jr., sister Lutricia Coggins Swain, Grandson Christopher Merit and nephew Lewis Coggins III (Jethro).

Damon had unions which produced seven children; Damon F. Coggins, Jr. (Henrietta, NY), Eric J. Coggins (Birmingham, AL), Dana Coggins (Hampton, GA), Dione Coggins (Palmetto, GA), Dawn Coggins, Janet Coggins Merit (Gregory) and Auybraya Coggins (all of Atlanta, GA), ten grandchildren; Antoinette Gooden, Ricq'uel Coggins, DeAndrea White, Cierra Gooden, Gregory (Cameron) Merit, Briana Wright, Richa'd White, Ve'une Merit, Gabrielle Merit, Marcus Merit, eleven great grandchildren, brother, Kenneth Coggins (Griffin, GA), sister in law, Marlena Coggins (Atlanta, GA), a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends who will miss him dearly.