October 23, 1962 ~ May 25, 2023
Marlborough – A lifelong resident of Marlboro, Bill was a devoted brother, son and uncle to his entire family. He is survived by his brother Fred Coggins and his wife Zita, of Northbridge; his sister Christine Cote, and brother James, both of Marlboro.
In addition to his siblings, he leaves his nieces and nephews. Having no children of his own, he considered them very much his surrogate children and loved them dearly. They include Aarron, of Virginia; Ashley (Casey) of Northbridge, Jesse (Laura) of Douglas and Brianna (Mikey) of CT; Felicia (Mike), of North Carolina; Mikayla of Marlboro; and his great-nieces Abigail and Adeline, from Northbridge; as well Sophia and great nephews Oliver and Archer of North Carolina.
Bill worked in multiple capacities for the Town of Sudbury over his many years there; including driving truck ,Parks & Recreation and working the cemeteries and snow storms. Prior to the Town of Sudbury, in his earlier years Bill also worked at the L.B. Darling meat processing plant in Southboro and Data General Corp where he made and enjoyed many friendships. Making friends was easy for Bill as people naturally liked him and his positive outlook. We came to call him ‘the Mayor’.
From the earliest of days, Bill loved competition. He was a good student athlete in high school and carried that with him throughout a good portion of his life; be it on the golf course or softball diamond. No lie – he got the job at Data General as they had a softball league (recreational on paper) and the hiring manager had a team and had heard Bill could play. And BOY, COULD HE PLAY! His many homeruns were usually tape measure jobs. He loved our local sports teams, all of them, and continued to enjoy that competitive spirit in various Fantasy sports leagues.
Being a man of many talents, he was also a graduate of the Connecticut School of Broadcasting and went on to broadcast numerous games for the Marlboro Shamrocks, High School and other teams. In addition, he spent many years with the Dukes of Marlboro Drum and Bugle Corp where he was an accomplished drummer. More than anything though, for those that knew Bill, he will always be remembered as a giver. He organized golf tournaments to raise funds for families he knew were going through tough times with health and other issues (he was GoFundMe before it became a thing). Subsequent tournaments were run to donate to multiple charities – most around our country and support of our military as he was an absolute patriot to the core – and proud of this land.
Sadly, over the past few years Bill developed Chronic Kidney Disease, which was very aggressive in his case, progressing to Stage 4 rapidly. True to his competitive nature though, he came out swinging and made all of the necessary lifestyle changes and took on multiple forms of home dialysis as he made himself a ‘good candidate’ on the transplant list. Not long before his passing he received a call that he was #11 on the list and to keep his phone on.
It should be obvious that with all of this going for him it was and remains a shock that he was taken from us, so suddenly, but can hold on to his courageous spirit as we adjust to life without him knowing that he is now home with his best friend, in life, his brother David, as well as Carla and our parents.
As we prepare to meet at Grace Church, where he worshipped and enjoyed the company of his family in faith, the family wishes to especially thank his niece Ashley, for learning and then administering his dialysis and care so he could do so in the comfort of his own home, and for the support she and Bill received from the team at Fresenius in Marlboro, especially his nurse Jennifer.
With that please make any contributions in his name to the National Kidney Foundation.
Visiting hours were held June 4 at Grace Church of Hudson, followed by a funeral service. Burial will be held at a later date.
Slattery Funeral Home of Marlborough assisted with arrangements.
