Maud Currie Coggs

She was the eighth child born to Annie and William L. Currie, Sr., on December 18, 1925, in Carson, Arkansas, a few minutes before her identical twin sister, Marie. She was raised in a large, lively, family. Maud continually faced life and its many challenges with grace, fortitude, and tenacity. Maud completed high school at Corbin High School in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and spent her first two years of college at Arkansas State College in Pine Bluff. During those years, she and Marie achieved note for their high academic performance and for their competition in basketball and debating. Maud transferred to Tuskegee Institute, (now Tuskegee University), where she earned a B.S. degree in Home Economics Education.

While Maud was a student at Tuskegee Institute during WWII, she met a Tuskegee Airman Army Air Corps Aviation Cadet, Granville Coggs, from Little Rock, Arkansas. They were united in holy matrimony on August 20, 1946, and were blessed with 72 years of marriage. She accepted a General Education Scholarship to the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, Nebraska, where she earned the M.S. Degree in Nutrition Education in 1947. Maud and Granville moved to Boston, Massachusetts, where Maud worked as a dietician at the private hospital, New England Baptist Hospital, while Granville studied at Harvard Medical School and attained his M.D. During one period of time, while working at the hospital, she met, and prepared the daily meal plan for her most interesting patient of note, the United States Senator from Massachusetts, John F. Kennedy.

In 1953 the Coggs family moved to the San Francisco Bay Area. They were pioneers in 1955 as the first African-American family to integrate the Terra Linda Community of Eichler Homes. Their entrance was met with great resistance; prompting developer Joseph Eichler, in an act of civility and inclusivity, to offer to buy back the homes of those families who opposed integration. The Coggs family moved to San Antonio, Texas in 1975.

Her professional career in Nutrition Education included working as a Home Economics teacher at Tamalpais High School, Mill Valley, California; and Assistant Professor of Nutrition at Tennessee A. and I. University, Tennessee; San Francisco State University; and Saint Phillips College in San Antonio.

She was a devoted wife and mother, and was known for consistently and lovingly maintaining contact with family members over the years. She and Granville hosted family reunions at their home on several occasions. They always freely gave support and encouragement to the many lives they touched. She was beloved by many because of her sweet nature, kindness, and warmth. Maud will be truly missed by all who knew her, and remembered fondly.

Maud was preceded in death by her father, William Louis Currie, Sr., mother, Annie Holland Currie, husband, Granville Coleridge Coggs, M.D., son, Granville Currie Coggs, and daughter, Carolyn Anne Coggs. She is survived by daughter, Anita Coggs Rowell (Joseph), and granddaughters, Aisha Rowell, and Angela Rowell. She also leaves behind her sister, Zenobia Currie Pendleton, and many nieces and nephews.

The family would like to thank the staff at The Heights on Huebner Nursing Home, and Kindred Hospice, who provided excellent care for Maud in San Antonio.

At Maud’s request, there will be no memorial service. In lieu of flowers, donations in Maud’s memory may be made by mail to the San Antonio Chapter-Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. (SACTAI),

P. O. Box 264, Randolph AFB, TX 78150. Or online, the SACTAI Maud Coggs Memorial Fund has been established until July 23, 2022 at https://www.paypal.com/pools/c/8KUQOBBU6v

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.neptunesociety.com/location/san-antonio-cremation for the Coggs family.