Henry "Hank" Coyle died Thursday in his
home surrounded by family.
Mr. Coyle built, owned and operated the
first McDonald's Restaurant in Crawfordsville
in 1973. He later opened a second
McDonald's in Greencastle. He also was
the executive director of the Crawfordsville-
Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce
in 1988-1989.
Living most of his early life in Toledo, Ohio,
he graduated from Central Catholic High School
and attended the University of Toledo. He
worked in time study and clerical work measurement
for the General Tire and Rubber Co. He worked for a
number of years as a computer programmer and analyst,
supervisor and manager in the emerging computer field for
Owens Illinois.
He served in the Army Medical Corp in 1951-1952. He
was stationed with the 8076 MASH unit in both Chunchon and
Hwachon, Korea, during that war.
He served on the board of the Catholic Inner Cities Mission
in Toledo as well as a member of the Holy Rosary Cathedral
Parish Council. He and his wife Nancy helped form a Cinema
Study Club of more than 100 movie buffs who studied movies
as an art form and studied various cultures through the use
of film.
He was a board member of the Boys & Girls Club in Crawfordsville;
president of the Sugar Creek Players; drive chairman
and then board member of MUFFY; member of the
board of CEL&P; and volunteer for St. Vincent's Indianapolis
Hospice. He served as a board member of the Crawfordsville
School System during the planning of the new high school. He
was active at St. Bernard's Catholic Church on the finance
council and in their outreach project in Haiti, and later at St.
Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in West Lafayette, where he
worked on the Pax Christi committee.
Mr. Coyle traveled to Haiti frequently and often organized
the shipment of sea containers of goods, carried money and
goods into the country, and served as a guide for first-time
guests visiting Haiti. He was a member of the board of directors
of the national Haiti Parish Twinning Organization. He
served as chairman of the Catholic Diocese of Lafayette
Haiti Committee. He also served the Lafayette Diocese along
with wife as members of the Diocesan Pastoral Council. He
served under the auspices of the Sisters of St. Joseph, Tipton,
in the creation of Hospice St. Joseph, in Port au Prince,
Haiti. Hank and his wife were faithful members of the Crawfordsville
Dreamers, the Center for Peace and Life Studies,
Muncie, and the Family Campers.
He was born June 28, 1929, to Marguerite (Weldy) and
Charles Coyle in Columbus, Ohio. He married Nancy Savage
on Aug. 7, 1954. She survives.
Other survivors include: daughters, Peggy Coyle, Ho Chi
Minh City, Vietnam, Cathleen (Brian) Johns, Sylvania, Ohio,
Mary (Barry) Rice, Beavercreek, Ohio, Ellen Coyle (Monte
Pullis), Indianapolis, Julie Coyle, South Bend, and Jennifer
Coyle, Crawfordsville; sons, Michael (Susan), Maumee, Ohio,
David (Denise), Toledo, Ohio, Jim (Mary), Fishers, and Tom
(Laurie), Kent, Ohio; 20 grandchildren; and seven greatgrandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his parents, his infant daughter,
his infant granddaughter, Megan Coyle, and his grandson,
Henry Charles Coyle.
Funeral services are scheduled for 10 a.m.Wednesday at
St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, West Lafayette. Burial
will be July 12 at Calvary Cemetery in Toledo, Ohio, with a
memorial mass scheduled for 10 a.m. at Gesu Church, Toledo.
Friends may call from 4-8 p.m. Monday and Tuesday at
Hunt & Son Funeral Home, 107 N. Grant Ave.
Memorials may be to the Haiti Project, St. Thomas Aquinas
Church, 535 State St., West Lafayette, IN, 47906; the Haiti
Parish Twinning of the Americas, 309 Windemere Woods
Drive, Nashville, Tenn. 37215; or St. Elizabeth Hospice, 1501
Hartford Street, Lafayette, IN 47904.