CFSB Spirit of Marshall County: Coakley puts talents to work to better community

 

Arts Commission president, Patty Coakley, enjoying one of the many classes offered at the Children’s Arts Center.

Communities thrive when there are people who always go above and beyond, willing to pitch in and do what is needed. Patty Coakley is one of those people.

A graduate of Lone Oak High School and Murray State University, Coakley began her teaching career in Marshall County at a boys’ camp then went on to teach physical education before heading up the gifted and talented program for middle school and high school students in the county.

Her contributions didn’t stay in the classroom. As a talented painter, piano player and singer, Coakley has a love for the arts. She developed, organized and produced a popular talent and art show called “Sights and Sounds,” held annually at the Shadowen Performing Arts Center. The show highlights the works of community artists and the talents of grade school students.

Doug and Patty Coakley at the Marshall County Art’s Commission Race to the Finish Derby party.

Coakley continues to support the arts as a long-time board member and current president of the Marshall County Arts Commission; it’s her second go-round in that position, and Coakley has a masterful way of organizing things, Arts Commission Director George Milam said.

“When it’s a nonprofit organization, you take it from zero and make with it what you can, and she’s been kind of responsible for developing our policies and procedures and the way we operate,” Milam said. “When you have to write grants and things like that, you have to have all that stuff in order. I would almost accuse her of constantly reviewing that.”

Milam said they are fortunate to have Coakley and her wide range of talents that help make the Children’s Arts Center what it is today. Milam said that she is the driving force behind many of their events, such as the recent “Showcase,” which recognizes local artists with art displays in places of business throughout the county.

Coakley’s passion for the arts extends into her passion for her community. She along with husband Doug, have been instrumental in their Calvert City community development.

“Patty and Doug were on the ground floor in forming Calvert City Country Club and are charter members,” friend and Marshall County Commissioner Dr. Rick Cocke said. “The whole family has been pillars in our community and are just good people.”

An active member of the Calvert Area Development Association (CADA), Coakley spearheaded the annual Fern Fest, a musical event that honored her brother Jim Fern, a talented musician, Marshall County music educator and original member of CADA.

“She’s the kind of person who is caring, doesn’t want a pat on the back, but wants to see things get done,” Cocke said. “If you want something done, you call Patty.”

Cocke added that it was Coakley who got he and his wife Beth involved in Children’s Arts Center events. She also taught both of their children in the Gifted and Talented program, he said.

Friend and fellow Arts Commission board member Linda McKinney said Coakley can do just about anything – from her beautiful drawings to singing and playing the piano for her church at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Paducah, in which she is very involved.

“She is one of the most organized people I know,” McKinney said. “Very talented and creative but also adept at things like writing by-laws and computer work, especially for the Arts Commission.”

McKinney, also a graduate of Lone Oak High School, said of her friend that before they even knew each other, they rode the same school bus together as children. McKinney taught second grade at Lone Oak and her husband King taught a Civics class at Lone Oak High School that Coakley attended as a senior.

In addition to their mutual volunteerism, Coakley and McKinney were both long-time educators together. McKinney said that Coakley originally planned to follow in her mother’s footsteps and become a hairdresser, something she trained for until her path took her a different direction. In her youth, Coakley worked at Kentucky Dam Marina and was a very good swimmer. McKinney added that although Coakley is very talented in so many areas, one thing she knows about her good friend, “she doesn’t like to cook.”

The Coakleys have two children and eight grandchildren. Their son Price lives in Metropolis and has four daughters, and daughter Karen lives in Utah and has three sons and one daughter. Coakley’s mother was also a gifted visual artist whose works have been on display at the Children’s Arts Center. Coakley enjoys genealogy and has traced her family back many generations.

Milam said of Coakley that she’s always willing to pitch in and help, the kind of person you want in charge of things because you know they will get done.

“She’s always ready to pick up and do her part and more than her part,” Milam said. “She is one of those people that every organization would like to have and every community would like to have a person like that. She is a positive force in everything she does.”