Benjamin Tyler Coker, 26, of Iuka, Mississippi, passed away on Wednesday, November 29, 2023, at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. Benjamin dedicated a great amount of his time and energy to furthering his education. He graduated from Northeast Mississippi Community College with an associate’s degree and was currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in psychology and minor in sociology at the University of North Alabama. He would have graduated in May of 2024. Ben was a member of Iuka Baptist Church. He was also an Eagle Scout. For his Eagle Scout project, Ben restored the Amy Skinner and Jay Darwin nature trail at the Iuka Elementary School. Ben was a loyal volunteer at the Old Courthouse Museum in Iuka. Ben even returned after he moved away to college to assist with special events and be with his friends at the Old Courthouse Museum. Benjamin also enjoyed working at the Coker farm, riding dirt bikes, and creating new dirt bike trails. Ben loved being around family and friends. He loved being an uncle to his nieces and nephew. Ben had an extraordinary personality and brought positivity with him everywhere he went. His smile and outlook were infectious. He was widely known for being extremely funny, giving great advice, and simply just being a loyal friend and an upstanding person.
Ben is survived by his parents, Johnny and Robin Coker; his brothers, Joshua Coker (Brittany) and Daniel Coker (Taylor); his nieces and nephew, Amelia, Elena, Danica Grace, Evan and Elizabeth Coker; his aunts and uncles, Scott Coker, Lee Razutis, Jennifer Thrasher, Anne Marie Brown, Henry Brown, Donald Brown, William Brown, Charlie Brown, and Samuel Strawbridge; and a host of other family members and friends. He was preceded in death by his grandparents, Jim Coker (Lou), Bea Coker, and Marilyn Jo Brown (Jimmy Lee); his great-grandparents, T.G. and Bessie Vernon, Alton and Grace Coker, John and Pauline Daniel, and Lola Maude Stanford; his aunt, Karen Grantham; and his uncle, Bobby Coker.
Cutshall Funeral Home in Iuka is entrusted with the arrangements. Visitation is scheduled from 11:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 2, 2023, at the Iuka Baptist Church. A memorial service will follow beginning at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 2, 2023, at the Iuka Baptist Church, officiated by Dr. Johnny Hancock, Coach Lyndon Cain, and Jeff Lyles. Memorials may be made in Ben’s honor to Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, the FedEx House, Pinson Hospitality House, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, or the Give Kids the World Foundation.
