Garnet Nathan Coble Jr.

Garnet Nathan Coble Jr., or Sonny, as he loved to be called by his friends and family, died November 4, 2026, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. He was born November 30, 1938, the oldest of four children of Garnet N. Coble and Edna Kline Coble. He is predeceased by his parents as well as his brother, Parker C. Coble. He is survived by his daughters Dr. Kim Coble of California and Kellie Coble of Maryland and sisters Marie Quesinberry of Pennsylvania and Edna Jane Hartzel (Richard Hartzel) of South Carolina.

He grew up on a fruit farm near Aspers, PA. He attended Upper Adams Schools and Biglerville High School, where he participated in band, chorus, boys’ octet, basketball, and track. He attended Gettysburg College, where he majored in Health and Physical Education, with minors in Science and English. He continued playing music in a brass quartet. He ran cross-country and participated in track and field. He was undefeated his freshman and senior years in the pole vault and the mile relay. He accomplished this and more, all while working his way through college.

Upon graduation in 1960, he was hired as a health and physical education teacher and assistant basketball coach at Jim Thorpe Area High School. In his second year the team won the state championship, which led to him being elected to the Jim Thorpe Sports Hall of Fame. Next, he was hired at Perry Joint High School in New Bloomfield, PA, where he was the head basketball coach and assistant football coach. The next year, several schools were consolidated into West Perry High School, where he was the head basketball coach and head track coach. His basketball team was the first championship team of any sport at the school.

In 1967 he began graduate school at the University of Maryland College Park in Health and Physical Education, conducting research in kinesiology/physiology. He moved to Columbia, MD on May 1, 1968, where he was one of the original Columbia residents (“Pioneers”). He was forward looking and believed in the new planned city.

While in graduate school he was recruited by Montgomery County Public Schools to teach health and physical education at Churchill High School. He started a gymnastics program there (coaching the best gymnast on the East Coast for two years) and was assistant track coach. His second year he became the head track coach for 8 years and never had a losing season. With Sonny’s leadership, in 1976 Churchill became the first high school in Maryland to win the state championship in cross-country, indoor track, and outdoor track. The professional accomplishment he is most proud of is when he integrated the girls and boys track teams, practicing and running meets together. Co-ed track then spread across the United States.

After Churchill, Sonny was a teacher and advisor at the Mark Twain school for at-risk kids. He then taught at Parkland Junior High School, where he was the track coach, with several undefeated seasons. He finished his career at Banneker Middle School, where he was the department head, the student assistance program leader, and part-time assistant principal. While at Banneker, he organized the lifetime sports all-school field trip for 1300 kids right before the winter holidays.

After retiring in 2003, he became incredibly involved in the Mason Dixon chapter of the American Rhododendron Society and began hybridizing and propagating rhododendrons and azaleas. He served multiple terms as Chapter President. He won the prestigious silver medal from the Society for his work as a leader, recruiting and teaching new members, and running conventions and shows. In addition, he served as President for: the Board of Trustees of the Coble Cemetery, the Coble Reunion, and his high school class reunion.

He had a lifelong love of hunting, fishing, and the outdoors. He fished for trout in Pennsylvania, Maryland, the Western United States, and Canada. He hunted deer in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maine, and even Caribou in Northern Quebec. He also loved to travel, including several road trips out west. He was a member of Trinity United Church of Christ in Gettysburg.

Professional services have been entrusted to the Dugan Funeral & Cremation, Ltd., 111 S. Main St. PO Box 393, Bendersville, PA 17306. Funeral Service will be held on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, at 11:00 AM at the Trinity United Church of Christ in Gettysburg, PA, with Reverend Dr. Fred Young officiating. Visitation will be held for two hours prior to the service at the church. Interment will be held in the Coble Cemetery in St. Thomas.