John J. Coughlin Jr., 86, former executive director of the Worcester Redevelopment Authority, died Thursday, January 17, 2013 in Beaumont Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Center after a long struggle with Parkinson’s-like symptoms.
He was born on July 4, 1926 in Boston, the son of John J. Coughlin Sr. and Frances (Harlow) Coughlin and attended Mission High School. After high school, he joined the U.S. Naval Air Corps, and served in World War II in the South Pacific.
Upon being discharged from the Navy, he returned to Boston and earned both his bachelor’s degree and his master’s degree in public administration from Boston University. Upon graduation, he worked for the Boston Planning Department and then for the then newly formed Boston Redevelopment Authority.
In 1964, Mr. Coughlin came to Worcester to work for the Worcester Redevelopment Authority as administrative director, becoming the executive director of the agency in 1969. In the late 1960s, the WRA cleared a 34-acre site of tired and obsolete buildings in the Central Business District that became known as the East Central Project. The first structure to be built on that site was Worcester Center, which included office buildings, garages and the Galleria, a beautiful covered mall of shops. Recently, the Galleria – no longer a retail mecca – was torn down to allow for the reopening of Front Street.
Mr. Coughlin and the WRA were also very active in a real battle to get the city’s leadership and voters to approve the creation of the Worcester Centrum – now the DCU Center. Its opening on Sept. 2, 1982, with a concert by Frank Sinatra, was the start of success after success.
Gradually, site after site within the East Central Project was developed with the building of a new police headquarters and the construction of a major hotel at Lincoln Square, the U.S. Post Office, and eventually the new St. Vincent Hospital.
However, Mr. Coughlin’s greatest satisfaction was achieved with the rehabilitation of housing in Elm Park and in the Crystal Park area of Main South and it was a disappointment to him that federal funds for this type of neighborhood renewal were gradually eliminated.
After the WRA staff was dismantled by the city, Mr. Coughlin, then 57, tried retirement for six months and didn’t like it. He went to work at T.J. Maxx Warehouse in Worcester, where he was employed until he was well into his 70s.
Mr. Coughlin’s keen mind was paired with an equally keen sense of humor and he had a fund of funny stories about his life and career as well as the political scene that he enjoyed telling. He loved sports and attended as many professional games in Boston as he could. He also took up international travel in his later years, making multiple trips to Europe with his longtime companion Geraldine Collier. He was also a great reader, sometimes having two books going at once, and he was particularly fond of mystery novels.
However, his greatest joy in life was getting together with his many Coughlin siblings and cousins as well as the Hanlon relatives of his late wife M. Patricia Coughlin. And there was hardly a weekend without a picnic or a party, a graduation or a wedding to attend.
Besides Geraldine, he leaves a son, John J. Coughlin of Boston; a daughter, Patricia, and her husband David Domenick of Auburn; and four grandsons who were the delight of his life: Brian Coughlin of Somers, Conn., Anthony Domenick of Boston, and Stephen and Christopher Domenick of Auburn.
He also leaves his brother Neil and his wife Barbara Coughlin of New Jersey and his sister Joan and her husband Herman Borkowski of Dorchester. He also leaves his former daughter-in-law, Suzanne Sanders of Somers, Conn., three nephews and three nieces and many cousins in the Boston and South Shore areas. His brother Thomas and sister-in-law Marsha Coughlin predeceased him.
Calling hours will be 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday at Athy Memorial Home, 111 Lancaster St., with a Mass at 10 a.m. Monday at Christ the King Church, 1052 Pleasant St. Burial will be in Worcester County Memorial Park in Paxton.
