M. R. “Jim” Coiner of Princeton, WV, passed away Sunday, April 22, 2018 at Pulaski Health and Rehabilitation Center in Pulaski, VA, after a long illness.
He was born on August 5, 1934, in Webster Springs, WV, to the late Maynard R. Coiner Sr., and Agatha Pearl Morton Coiner.
Jim was a 1952 graduate of Webster Springs High School. Following high school, he served four years in the United States Air Force as an Air Force radar technician for a short time in South Charleston, WV, and also at a remote outpost near Anchorage, AK, during the Korean War.
He later graduated from Concord College in Athens, WV, with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1960 and from Ohio University in Athens, OH, with a Master of Fine Arts degree in 1962. Upon graduating from Ohio University, Jim taught at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, TN, for five years.
With an invitation from the president of Bluefield State College, and his strong desire to return to his beloved mountains of West Virginia, he accepted a position and taught there for two years. Jim then returned to Concord College and taught for 31 years until he retired in 2000.
During Jim’s tenure at Concord, he served as assistant professor, professor and chairman of the Department of Art. He was instrumental in developing a new and updated curriculum in commercial art and advertising, which is now called advertising/graphic design. His intention for developing the program was to make sure his students had every opportunity to be self-supporting in their work as artists and provide a non-teaching track in commercial art. He also founded and advised the Concord Advertising Group—a student-run advertising and design group that allowed students to gain real-life work experience while in college.
An award-winning artist in his own right, Jim’s paintings and sculptures can be found in private as well as public collections, including The Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, OH, and the Huntington Museum of Art in Huntington, WV.
In addition to working with his college students, Jim was passionate about helping West Virginia artists and artisans promote and sell their work. With the support of state officials and state grants, he opened The Arts and Crafts Studio at Pipestem Resort and State Park in 1971. He and his students from Concord managed and operated the Arts and Crafts Studio during the summers for nine years, and then turned over the management and operation to the park so that it could be a year-round venture.
Jim also felt the importance of serving his community through his 30 years of volunteer work in the Mercer Composite Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol, West Virginia Wing. An official auxiliary of the United States Air Force, the Civil Air Patrol is a public service organization that carries out emergency service missions in the air and on the ground. Jim earned the rank of lieutenant colonel in this organization, and throughout the years, he served as a search and rescue pilot, air operations officer, public affairs officer, and depuy commander. He worked closely with state Civil Air Patrol leadership as he led design approvals and fund raising efforts for the new hanger and command center at Mercer County Airport.
Jim was a long-standing member of Princeton Presbyterian Church, where he participated as a greeter, alongside his wife. He always greeted people with a positive spirit and a quick wit.
He is survived by Joyce Carol Hedrick Coiner, his wife of 57 years; one daughter, Cherie Elizabeth Coiner Durbin and her husband, Ronald Paul Durbin Jr.; and one grandchild, Barrett Alexander Durbin of Christiansburg, VA.
His visitation will be held at Princeton Presbyterian Church on Saturday, April 28, from 1–3 p.m., with a service celebrating his life immediately following. The Rev. Dr. Ed Pettus will be officiating.
Internment will take place after the service in the Oakwood section of the Resthaven Memorial Gardens, next to the church.
Amy Oliver will be serving as organist, and Earl Davis will serve as the soloist. Pallbearers will be: Gordon Swartz, Melvin Chinault, Joe Grizzel, Ritchie Elkins, Sherman McClung, Joe McClung, and Sammy Martin. Honorary pallbearers will include members of the Mercer County Civil Air Patrol.
The family would like to extend a special thank you to the staff at Pulaski Health and Rehabilitation Center for their amazing care, love and concern during Jim’s illness.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Professor Jim Coiner ’60
Advertising & Graphic Design Scholarship at Concord University by going to the following link: https://www.concord.edu/cufoundation/donations.
Online condolences may be sent by visiting seaverfuneralservice.com.
Seaver Funeral Services in Princeton is in charge of arrangements.
Obituary originally published in the April 26, 2018 edition of The West Virginia Daily News.
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