Byron Lee Coker, Sr.

Byron Lee Coker, age 92, passed away peacefully on January 18, 2022. He was born on September 30, 1929 in Atlanta, GA to Tren Forest Coker and Cebe King Coker. He graduated from Bass High School in Atlanta in 1947. He served in the Georgia Air National Guard including being activated for a year to serve in Morocco during the Korean War. After an honorable discharge, he continued his education at the Georgia State College of Business Administration (Georgia State University) in Atlanta, GA where he received a Bachelor’s of Business Administration in Marketing in 1957. On June 15, 1957, he married the love of his life, Frances Blount Blakeney of Matthews, NC. After graduating, Byron worked as a salesman for Fre-Eze Chemical, his stepfather Homer Gayle Smith’s company. He then joined Pure Oil Company and later Union Oil Company of California (Unocal) as a petrochemical salesman. He really enjoyed meeting people and truly getting to know them which made him the ideal salesman. He retired from Unocal in 1990. He was a faithful Christian and longtime member of Clairmont Hills Baptist Church where he led his Sunday School class and served veterans at the local VA Hospital. He was a skilled woodworker, making many items of furniture, doing renovations and building various outbuildings. After retirement, Byron and Frances enjoyed traveling and spending time at their mountain cabin and farm where he completely renovated a 100-year-old farmhouse. He is preceded in death by his wife, Frances B Coker (who passed away 5 days earlier) and brother Sherry L Coker. He is survived by his sister-in-law: Luanne L Coker; his children: Byron Lee Coker, Jr. (Shane), Caroline Coker Meadows (Chip), Katherine Coker Moses (Paul), his grandchildren: Blythe Coker, Aubrey Coker, Megan Meadows, Matthew Meadows, and Joshua Moses, as well as numerous nieces and nephews. Visitation will be held on Saturday, January 29, 2022 at 10 am with a memorial service to follow at 11 am at Bridgepoint Church at Toco Hills (1995 Clairmont Road, Decatur). In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to The Parkinson’s Foundation or Bridgepoint Church.