Norma Jean Coggins

Norma Jean Wood Coggins, age 84, died September 14, 2015. She was born October 1, 1930, first child of Etta Lovedahl Wood and Howard Cecil Wood, who were married July 3, 1928. In addition to her parents, she was predeceased by a son, Dwight Alfred Hayes Coggins, who died November 21, 1981, he was 29 years old; brothers, Jerry Wallace Wood and Denny "Lamar" Wood, and a sister, Mary Sue Wood Starnes. She was married to Alfred Hayes Coggins from 1950 to 1991, when they separated and divorced in September 1992. Norma is survived by one brother in law, Paul Bougar Starnes of Charlotte, one sister in law, Katie Buchanan Wood; one nephew, Denny Howard Wood and two nieces, Michelle Wood Chastain and Ashley Susan Wood Guffey, all of Jackson County, North Carolina. Norma was a member of the John's Creek Methodist Church prior to closing, East LaPorte 206, Order of the Eastern Star; a member of the Golden Age Center Golden Steppers and Golden Aires, the North Carolina State Employees Association, and a Caney Fork news reporter for the Sylva Herald for many years, and a member of the Caney Fork Community Center. She retired from Western Carolina University's Physical Plant office in 1992, having worked there since 1961. Appalachian Funeral Services is in charge of burial. Services will be held on Thursday, September 17, 2015 at 3:00pm with Rev. Mark Styles officiating. Burial will follow in Fairview Gardens, Sylva, with full gravesite rites by East LaPorte 206, Order of the Eastern Star. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Balsam Grove Cemetery Fund, c/o Dale Mathis, Caney Fork, Cullowhee, NC 28723 or Masonic and Eastern Star Home, Greensboro, NC Masonic and Eastern Star Home, Greensboro, NC. . .