48 Facts About Jyles Coggins

Jyles Jackson Coggins was an American real estate developer and politician who served in the North Carolina House of Representatives and North Carolina Senate.

Jyles Coggins served as the Mayor of Raleigh, North Carolina from 1975 until 1977.

Jyles Coggins moved to Chapel Hill in 1939 to pursue a university education, but dropped out due to ill health and took up various jobs.

Jyles Coggins enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1942 and fought in World War II as a bomber pilot.

Over time the business grew and completed projects across the southeastern United States, and Jyles Coggins became a millionaire.

Jyles Coggins frequently disregarded the wishes of state Democratic leaders, earning a reputation as a maverick.

Jyles Coggins left the Senate in 1971 and unsuccessfully sought a seat in the US House of Representatives the following year.

Jyles Coggins was challenged in his 1977 reelection bid by Isabella Cannon, who ran at the behest of a coalition of community activists.

Jyles Coggins was born on January 10,1921, in Mooresville, Iredell County, North Carolina, United States to James Lee Coggins and Jeanette Arney.

Jyles Coggins was the third of five children in a poor family.

When Jyles Coggins was thirteen years old his father died, and he moved to Statesville to work on a farm, sending a portion of his income back to his family to support it.

Jyles Coggins graduated from Iredell County's Central High School in 1939.

Jyles Coggins hitchhiked from his family's farm to Chapel Hill to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Jyles Coggins studied at the school from 1939 until 1940, when he was forced to drop out due to ill health.

Jyles Coggins then worked a variety of jobs before enlisting in the United States Marine Corps in June 1942.

Jyles Coggins served as a bomber pilot and fought in the South Pacific, earning ten military awards, including two Distinguished Flying Crosses.

Jyles Coggins became known as "Bomber Jack" to his fellow Marines during the war and garnered the rank of First Lieutenant before he was discharged in 1946.

Jyles Coggins returned to North Carolina and enrolled in North Carolina State College in Raleigh, building his own duplex to reside in while he pursued his studies.

Jyles Coggins married Frances Katherine Lyon on September 24,1943 in Jacksonville, Florida.

Jyles Coggins was a Presbyterian Christian, and was a member of a masonic lodge, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the American Legion, and the Raleigh Civitan Club.

Over time Jyles Coggins gradually expanded his building work to include apartment complexes and government buildings.

Jyles Coggins leased some of the land in the area and oversaw a significant amount of real estate development along the road, sometimes provoking the ire of local residents.

Jyles Coggins founded the Lyon Equipment Company and Dob's, Inc.

Jyles Coggins frequently attended to his business, and he had little spare time to interact with friends and family or engage in leisurely activities.

Jyles Coggins had wanted to build such a structure since the 1950s but never had any commercial support to do so, and decided to personally construct it in the early 1990s.

Jyles Coggins served as chairman of the board of Textile Research Services, Inc.

Jyles Coggins was a member of the National Association of Cemeteries, North Carolina Cemetery Association, Raleigh Merchants Bureau, Raleigh Chamber of Commerce, North Carolina Association of Quality Restaurants, North Carolina Motel Association, Association of General Contractors, Raleigh Board of Realtors, and the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen.

In 1963 Jyles Coggins sought a seat in the North Carolina House of Representatives.

Jyles Coggins was then elected to the 12th district seat in North Carolina Senate, representing Wake County, in 1965.

Jyles Coggins won re-election to the Senate in 1967 and 1969, serving until 1971.

In 1972 Jyles Coggins sought the US House of Representatives seat from North Carolina's 4th congressional district.

Jyles Coggins lost the Democratic Party's nomination to Ike Franklin Andrews in a primary election.

In 1975, Jyles Coggins sought the office of Mayor, challenging Lightner, whose reputation had suffered from family legal troubles, though Jyles Coggins did not openly discuss them.

Jyles Coggins emphasized during his campaign that he had never maintained a campaigning organization on his behalf or accepted a political donation, noting that his "loner" status in politics made him less suspicious than other candidates with potential ties to real estate developers.

Jyles Coggins resorted to criticizing the bloc, accusing it of trying to take over the municipal government.

Jyles Coggins won the election with 55 percent of the votes cast in his favor.

Jyles Coggins' disregarded their wish and proceeded with the vote, which tied among the councilmen.

Jyles Coggins disagreed with the council about revisions to Raleigh's city charter, pushing for the abolition of the Community Advisory Council, a board which represented neighborhood civic associations.

Jyles Coggins frequently criticized the Raleigh Coalition for being "anti-growth".

Some observers believed that Jyles Coggins attacked the coalition instead of Cannon directly because he was hesitant to speak poorly of an elderly woman.

Jyles Coggins spent $12,000 of his own money on his campaign effort, the most of any candidate for Raleigh municipal office in the 1977 election.

Jyles Coggins received the endorsement of the city's two daily newspapers, The Raleigh News and Observer and The Raleigh Times, as well as the support of the Raleigh Wake Citizens Association.

Jyles Coggins won only 15 of Raleigh's 43 precincts, performing best in the wealthier neighborhood constituencies as well as the working-class areas of the eastern part of the city.

Jyles Coggins attributed his failure to the campaigning done by the Raleigh Coalition as well as negative press coverage of himself.

Jyles Coggins flew aircraft as a hobby after World War II, and continued doing so into his 70s.

Jyles Coggins' wife died in 1995 and he subsequently developed insomnia.

Jyles Coggins died at his home in western Raleigh on the evening of August 25,2011.

Jyles Coggins was survived by his five daughters, 15 grandchildren, and one great-grandson.