Robert Daniel "Dan" Coit

Funeral services for Mr. Robert Daniel “Dan” Coit will begin at 2:00 PM Thursday, February 15, 2024, at First Presbyterian Church of Meridian with the Reverend Dr. Rhett G. Payne, III officiating. Interment will follow at Enterprise Cemetery. Robert Barham Family Funeral Home is honored to be entrusted with the arrangements.

Mr. Coit, 93, of Chunky, died Monday, February 12, 2024, at his home surrounded by his loving family.

Mr. Coit entered this world on March 31, 1930, in Enterprise, Mississippi. He was the only child of Robert Edwin and Margaret Faye Armstrong Coit. He attended Enterprise School and graduated from Meridian High School.  He then attended Meridian Junior College and graduated from Mississippi State University and the University of Mississippi School of Law.

He was an organizer and a founder of Lamar School Foundation. He was also one of the five persons who organized the Mississippi Private School Association which is now known as the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools.  He planted the seed that became the Mississippi Private School Accrediting Association.

He was a member of First Presbyterian Church and had served as a deacon, elder, and Sunday School teacher.

He was a member of the Meridian High Band, the Famous Maroon (MS State) Band, the Mississippi State Guard, the Mississippi National Guard, the Reserve Officers Training Corps, the Army of the United States, the United States Army Reserves, and the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary.

Mr. Coit is survived by his wife of over 64 years, Elna Faye Haden Coit; children Lauren Coit Hayes (Jeff), Linda Coit Sanford, Nancy Coit Williams (Michael), and Edwin Daniel Coit; grandchildren, William Coit Sanford, Stephen Hayes (Alison), Marilyn Coit, Maggie Hayes Helms (Josiah), Margaret Ann Sanford, Katie Coit Purvis (Nick), Sarah Grace Hayes Wilson (Andrew), Daniel Williams, and Andrew Williams; great-grandchildren, Jeffrey James Helms, Stephen Rush Hayes, and Robert Mack Helms; as well as a host of nieces, nephews, dear cousins, and extended family members.

Mr. Dan is preceded in death by his parents and his son-in-law, Robert Sanford.

Pallbearers will be his grandsons, William Sanford, Stephen Hayes, Daniel Williams, Andrew Williams, Josiah Helms, Andrew Wilson, and Nick Purvis.

The Coit Family suggests memorials be made as donations to The Lamar School Library at 544 Lindley Road, Meridian, MS  39303; or First Presbyterian Church at 903 23rd Avenue, Meridian, MS 39301.

The Coit Family will receive guests from 1:00 PM until 1:45 PM prior to funeral rites in the church.