Martin Boyd Coyner, Jr. died Saturday, July 5, 2014, at the age of 85.
Born in Lynchburg on Oct. 22, 1928, Dr. Coyner grew up in Farmville, the only child of a family of educators. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Virginia where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the Raven Society and Sigma Chi fraternity.
He received his master’s and Ph.D. in history from the University of Virginia and married Betsie Gilmer in August 1950. After teaching at Southwestern College (Rhodes) in Memphis, Tenn. and Hampden-Sydney College, he was awarded a prestigious yearlong research fellowship at the University of North Carolina.
He then joined the faculty and became a tenured professor at the College of William and Mary where his classes on the Old South were perennially filled to capacity. He loved his students and his students loved him. Throughout his career, he continued to research and presented numerous papers to the Southern Historical Society.
Besides having a lifelong interest in his German-Lutheran heritage, he was a gardener, pianist and avid reader of periodicals. His knowledge of U.S. and world history was encyclopedic. He had boundless and eclectic intellectual curiosity. Above all, he treasured his family and took an active interest in his children and grandchildren until the end.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Martin Boyd Coyner, Sr. and Ruth Harding Coyner and son, Martin Boyd Coyner, III.
He is survived by his wife of almost 64 years, Betsie Gilmer Coyner; daughters, Meredith (Andy) Klemm and Ruth (Lewis) Bell; son, Thomas Walker Coyner; grandchildren, Jack (Goodwyn) Bell, Anna (Ian ) Read, Megan (Zac) Becker, Dabney Bell, Peter (Mary) Klemm and Winston Bell; and two great-granddaughters.
Funeral services will be held at noon Saturday, July 12, 2014, at Williamsburg Community Chapel on John Tyler Highway.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be made to either World Vision or Church Hill Academy and Tutoring.
Please leave online condolences for the family at Nelsen Funeral Home.
To view the most recent listing of WYDaily obituaries, click here.
