Bill Coggin died on February 9, 2014, at his home in Bowling Green.
He was born on December 3, 1948 in Malvern, Arkansas, to Bertha (Davis) and William Coggin.
He is survived by his wife, Betty.
He is also survived by their two sons, Robert and Martin; daughter-in-law, Hadley; four beloved
grandchildren, Grace, Maggie, Emmett and Colleen; and brother, Charles.
Bill grew up in Plain Dealing, in rural north Louisiana, an area then-dominated by lumbering and paper
mills. The family’s meals came from what they could grow and what Bill’s stepfather could provide by
hunting and fishing. His stepfather also raised hunting dogs, and some of Bill’s earliest and fondest
memories are of riding the largest dogs and later his own horse.
Bill was the first in his family to graduate from high school. After graduation, he enrolled in college,
financing his education through work as a rough-neck in the North Louisiana oil fields.
He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1970 and trained as a Vietnamese interrogator and interpreter. This
experience sparked an enduring interest in other languages and cultures, even though he was fortunate
enough to qualify for one of "Nixon’s early-outs" and his orders for deployment to Viet Nam
were rescinded as he waited for the plane to take him overseas.
After his discharge from the Army, Bill returned to Louisiana Tech University, where he earned both
bachelor’s and master’s degrees. During this time at Tech, Bill met and married Betty. He also learned
that he enjoyed the academic environment and wanted to continue his education, with the goal of teaching
in a university. Bill then enrolled at Oklahoma State University, where he earned a dual Ph.D. in Anglo
Saxon literature and history. A professor at OSU, however, convinced him that a then-new field –
"technical writing" – offered greater chances for employment, and Bill included both class
work and teaching in that area. When he completed his course work, Bill had already published in both
literature and technical communication journals.
Upon finishing his course work, Bill taught Technical Communication at Miami University for a year before
being "lured away" by BGSU, which needed a young, energetic person to expand its new technical
writing program in the English Department. Bill completed his dissertation while teaching and developing
new courses at BGSU.
Bill taught at BGSU throughout the remainder of his career and completed development of the English
Department’s Technical and Scientific Communication program, which offered both Bachelor’s and Master’s
degrees. Bill was particularly proud that program graduates have been well-respected nationally and in
demand, both in business and education. To help his students with their job searches, he established a
fund to help students attend and present papers at conferences, as well as with other expenses of their
educations.
Bill also was very active in the national Society for Technical Communication, serving as an officer in
that organization for a number of years. He was active, as well, in other technical and business
communication organizations. He helped his students establish the student STC chapter at BGSU, and
served as its advisor and as editor of the national students’ STC journal for many years.
Bill authored or co-authored several books and many journal articles, and regularly conducted workshops
and gave presentations at academic and industry conferences on technical communication. One of his
greatest joys, however, was in returning to his "roots" and teaching at least one course each
year in early English literature.
Beginning in the late 1990s, Bill made a number of visits to China to teach in BGSU’s faculty exchange
program at Xi’an Foreign Languages University, combining teaching with the opportunity to learn as much
Mandarin as possible and research into Chinese education and culture. At BGSU, he greatly enjoyed being
the faculty advisor for the Chinese Student Scholars Association and sharing in the organization’s
activities. He also enjoyed working with individual teachers and students who came to BGSU from Xi’an,
as well as other universities around the world.
Bill had long looked forward to retirement, with plans to explore new cultures through more living and
teaching abroad. His plans were changed by illness, however, and after his retirement last year, he and
Betty had to limit their exploring to some of the areas and cultures in Ohio they had neglected during
their forty years living in the state.
Although Bill had come a long way from his childhood environment, he never forgot. His favored local
charities were the Wood County Humane Society and the Cherry Street Mission in Toledo. The family
requests that those organizations be considered by anyone wishing to remember Bill. Those preferring to
continue Bill’s help to students, please consider the Coggin Scholarship, through the BGSU Development
Foundation.
At Bill’s request, there will be no services nor formal visitation.
Arrangements have been entrusted to DUNN FUNERAL HOME located in the Historical District of Bowling
Green, Ohio.
Online condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.dunnfuneralhome.com.
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