Henry Coghlan Memorial Reef

Henry Coghlan was born April 3, 1943 in Laurel, MS to Elmer and Laverne Coghlan. His love for fishing started as a young teenager fishing the Pascagoula River on weekends with his uncle. After attending local schools, he enrolled at Mississippi State University, graduating with a Mechanical Engineering degree, and going on to receive his MBA from the University of Southern Mississippi. Upon graduation from college, he entered the navy and became an officer within the National Oceanic and Geodetic Survey team (now known as NOAA) on a ship in the Northern Atlantic. He served honorably for 4 years, then started his long employment with Masonite International, finally retiring after 42 years of service in 2010 as Vice President of Technical and Research Development.
Henry married his wife of 29 years, Terri, in 1992. His work took them around the world, living in Ireland for 4 years and South Korea for two years, and spending months abroad in many countries.
Henry and Terri bought their first vacation home in Mexico Beach in 1997 after vacationing there for two years. Upon his retirement in 2010, their love for the beach and ocean was strong enough they built a new home in Mexico Beach as their permanent residence.
Henry was an avid fisherman and hunter, but his greatest passion was his four grandchildren. He loved teaching them how to fish and snorkel.
Henry passed away on July 29, 2021. Henry’s reef consists of
1 Florida Limestone Artificial Reef and 1 Grouper Reef deployed on 2 May 2022. Surveyed by diver Bob Cox on 29 May 2022.