John was born August 19th, 1937, in Minneapolis, MN to Marcia and Edward Coyne. He married Suzanne Klein on June 13th, 1959. They raised their family in New Brighton and moved to Plymouth in 1987.
John went to grade school at St. Austin’s. He attended De LaSalle High School. He graduated from the University of St. Thomas in 1959 with a BA in business. He married Suzanne one week later and joined the family business, Coyne’s Distributing. He started in sales and took over the helm at the young age of 33 after his father suddenly passed away. John grew Coyne’s Giftware into a leader in the Giftware Industry selling and serving retailers throughout the USA. He semi-retired in 1999 and he officially retired in 2015 when the family sold the business.
John was always family first! He was kind and generous to all those close to him. His passions included investing, travel, music, cars, golf, boating on the St. Croix River (staying on Kinnickinnic beach, usually followed by a breakfast of sandy eggs) and a good joke. He was the “prince of puns”. John enjoyed attending sporting events from professional to watching his grandkids’ play. Holidays were meant to be shared with friends and family. St. Patrick’s Day always brought merriment to the Coyne household along with 40 of their closest friends. The Christmas holiday season was a time for lots of decorations: lights, Santa, snowmen, angels, deer and the Nativity scene. It was not the holiday season until you could see the lights on Rochester Court from miles away. John and Sue (and Terri in later years) worked tirelessly year after year on this Christmas display for the whole neighborhood to enjoy.
John had a strong Catholic faith and made sure to attend weekly mass when possible.
John is survived by his wife of 65 years, Suzanne Coyne. His five children, Mike (Sandy) of Plymouth MN: Tim (Julie) of Detroit Lakes MN: Terri of Edina, MN; Kathy (John) Maroney of Burnsville, MN; Chris (Lisa) of Golden Valley, MN. Seven grandchildren – Alex, Blake, Kyle (Liz), Rachel (Chris), Ryan, Erin, and Tyler. Two great grandchildren: Aubriana and Kennedy, and his brother Dennis Coyne of Hopkins, MN. Sisters- in-law Karen Klein, Jeanne Klein, Deni Coyne and many nieces and nephews. John was preceded in death by his parents, Ed and Marcia Coyne.
Visitation Services will be held June 17th from 4pm to 7:00 pm at Kapala – Glodek- Malone Funeral Home at 7800 Bass Lk Rd, New Hope MN. Prayer service and shared memories begin at 6:00 pm. Celebration of Life Funeral Services will be held at St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church June 18th at 11:00 am. Visitation 10:00 am . Burial will take place at 2:00 pm at Gethsemane in New Hope, MN.
John's service will be Livestreamed by the church on their website here: https://sjtw.net/ - please check for the LIVESTREAM button that will appear on 6/18 at 11 am.
