Obituary of Virgil McKoin

Funeral services for Mr. Virgil LeRoy McKoin are scheduled for 10:30 AM Saturday, October 3, 2009 at the Mer Rouge United Methodist Church with Rev. Samuel Emanuel officiating. Interment will follow in Christ Church Cemetery under the direction of Golden Funeral Home. Visitation will be held from 6 PM until 8 PM Friday, October 2, 2009 at the funeral home. Mr. McKoin died October 1, 2009 in Mer Rouge, LA at the age of nearly 88. Born December 21, 1921, the only child of Ulla and Mignonne Izard McKoin, "near Jones" as his birth certificate stated, his family moved to Bastrop soon and he grew up there, attending East Side Elementary and Bastrop High School. He delivered newspapers first by bicycle, then by horse and lastly by a '39 Buick. He went on to Northeast Center (now ULM) for two years, where he took flying. He was in his first semester at LSU when WWII was declared, and left at mid-term, expecting to be drafted. Through a series of unexpected events, he ended up teaching flying to Army Air Corp cadets in Helena, Arkansas, and eventually went in as a cadet himself, but did not graduate before the end of the war. When the war was over, he hitchhiked to Baton Rouge to look for a job, and sort of backed into half ownership of a truck, then went on to form McKoin Trucking Company which he operated for 47 years before retiring. He married Millicent Carter Brodnax in 1958 and they lived in Baton Rouge for 50 years before moving to Mer Rouge, LA. He was a 33rd degree Mason, a Shriner, belonged to the Mer Rouge United Methodist Church, and was active in the farming business. He is predeceased by his parents and many aunts, uncles and cousins. He leaves behind his wife of 51 years, Millicent Brodnax McKoin; a son, Hugh Phillips McKoin; a daughter, Millicent Cade McKoin and five granddaughters, Evelyne Gray Truitt, Ellsbeth Marie McKoin, Gwendolyn Carter McKoin, MacKenzie Elizabeth Niland and Sydney Cade Wacker. Pallbearers are Preston Barham, a nephew-in-law, and Dr. Louie Crook, a cousin, both of Oak Ridge, Kelly Black of Baton Rouge, Pat Bonner and William Davenport of Mer Rouge, and John Fredrick Smith, a great nephew-in-law of Calhoun. Honorary pallbearers are the many good friends he made and treasured over the years. In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate memorial contributions to the Louisiana Methodist Childrens Home, the Louisiana Baptist Childrens Home or the Morehouse Parish Humane Society.