Dr. Byron Wilbur Coke

Funeral services will be held Tuesday August 24 2010 at 5 p.m. at Salem Memorial Church, Macon MS.
Interment will follow in Salem Cemetery. Visitation will be held at Cockrell Funeral Home Tuesday from 3:30 until 4:30 p.m. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Salem Memorial Church, c/o Grace Taylor Macon MS 39341 or Salem School Fund, c/o Bank First P.O. Box 31, Macon, MS 39341.

Dr. Coke was a native of Pasadena, CA. He graduated from La Puente High School and later from the University of Southern California with B.A. degree. He continued his education at Columbia Pacific University, where he earned his Masters in Construction Management and his PhD. In Civil Engineering. Dr. Coke was a member of the Episcopalian Church.
He was a U.S Navy veteran of 42 years active and reserve service and retired as a Chief Warrant Officer W4. While on active duty during World War II, he was stationed on Guam and later was very active in the AROU (Aircraft Repair and Overhaul Unit) and the CASU ( Carrier Aircraft Support Unit) reunion groups, made up of veterans who served in the Guam-Tinian-Guadalcanal area of the Pacific Theatre. Dr. Coke was also a SeaBee.
Dr. Coke married Dolly Guy, originally from Macon, MS, in 1971. In the late 1970’S, he owned and operated an engineering firm in Newport, Oregon. He also worked in civil engineering in the Middle East, primarily in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Iran and later wrote a book,” An Engineer’s Guide to Employment in the Middle East”. He later lived in Alaska for 17 years where he worked for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and also for the United States Environmental Protection Agency. In 1997 he and his wife moved to Hot Springs Village, Arkansas and later to Florida. They then moved to Fallon, Nevada and in 2007, they moved to Mississippi where he worked diligently to restore his wife’s family home near Macon, MS.
Dr. Coke was a generous man who enjoyed action and never passed up the opportunity to enjoy an adventure. He enjoyed traveling, fishing, and going on ocean cruises.

Dr. Coke is survived by his wife, Mrs. Dolly Guy Coke of Macon, MS. He is also survived his step-mother: Jean Coke, Sanger, CA as well as five daughters: Susan Nakashima of Walnut Creek, CA; Marsha Isaacs of Oceanside, CA; Janet Van Whry of Los Angeles, CA; Karen Corrette of Clairemont, CA; and Jennifer Coke of Fresno, CA. He is also survived by one brother, Alden Coke of Baltimore , MD., seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.