Tommy "Doc" Coggins

Thomas J. “Doc” Coggins, 65, died peacefully on Monday night, June 17, surrounded by family and friends after a hard-fought, four-year battle with cancer.

A life-long resident of Scranton’s Hill Section, he was born on Christmas Day in 1958 to the late Mary Pusateri Coggins and late Joseph T. Coggins, Sr.

Raised in the 200 block of Colfax Avenue, he was the youngest of five close-knit siblings that include Joanne Coggins Williams, Kathleen Coggins, Mary Ann Novajosky, each of them Scranton residents, and the late Joseph T. Coggins, Jr., who died in 2020. 

He is also survived by his beloved daughter Kayleigh L. Coggins, who is employed as a peer counselor at Scranton Counseling Center.

Also surviving are brother-in-law George Novajosky, several nieces and nephews and several great nieces and nephews.

He was a proud graduate of Scranton Technical High School, class of 1976, where he played varsity football for three years at offensive guard and center and was an active member of the Letterman’s Club.

He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in public administration from the University of Scranton in 1981 and attended graduate school at Penn State University.

He was a sales manager in the office products division of 3M Corporation before working for nine years as a district circulation manager for The Scranton Times.

He then pursued his life-long love of cooking at various popular local restaurants and bars over the course of many years, including Jilly’s in North Scranton, Sal’s in Dunmore and Brennan’s and Crotti’s in the Hill Section – a passion that began when he was just eight-years-old helping in the kitchen of his Sicilian grandparents Salvatore and Saveria Pusateri.

The job he enjoyed most was at P.J. Scanlan’s Restaurant in downtown Scranton, where he worked in every aspect of the business for the last 18 years, quitting just a couple months ago when his battle with cancer made it impossible for him to continue. He thoroughly enjoyed each and every day he spent with his coworkers and customers at Scanlan’s.

He was an avid, life-long fan of the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Phillies and Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

He also loved music, especially the work of the Grateful Dead and Bob Dylan.

He shared his love of football and good sportsmanship as a coach for seven years of the South Side Indians Junior Football team. He also served as a volunteer football coach for several years in the 1980s for his alma mater, the Scranton Tech Red Raiders.

“Tommy” – as he was known to his family – was especially thankful for the tremendous love and support he received from his sister Joanne, who still recalls, when her baby brother was just five, taking him by the hand and walking with him to his first day of school at Audubon Elementary, gently calming his first-day fears along the way. She played a similar role on Tommy’s final walk in life.

“Doc” – as he was known to most of his friends – was blessed to have many of them throughout his life and he considered each one to be part of his family. One of those friends spoke for many when he pointed out: “Cancer took him physically, but it never defeated him mentally.”

He was especially grateful for the love and support he received from Mike Ducas, Sheila Sankar and Joe Crotti and for the friendship of Ashish Patel and Deepak Patel of the Convenient Food Mart at Prescott & Ash.

“Doc” also wished to express his deep gratitude to several local musicians who donated their talents to the benefits held in his honor at Crotti’s on Ash, especially Clarence Spady, the Village Idiots and Mike Dougher. 

His family wishes to thank the staff at Elan Skilled Nursing & Rehab for the wonderful care and compassion they showed Tommy over the last several weeks.

The funeral will be held next Thursday June 27th at 1PM in the chapel at Cathedral Cemetery, Oram Street in West Scranton. All are invited to attend.

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