Edwin C. Coia, farm market owner, 74

Edwin C. Coia, 74, co-owner since 1974 of the Country Farm Market in Atco, died of a heart attack on Monday, June 2, at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in Pomona, N.J.

A lifelong resident of Hammonton, N.J., Mr. Coia graduated from St. Joseph's High School there in 1958. He was the center on the varsity basketball team.

During his four-year service in the Army, Mr. Coia's job was to manage the ice hockey team of the Seventh Army in West Germany.

He earned the job because "he was very charismatic and willing to travel," daughter Renee Adamucci said.

The team played other U.S. military teams "pretty much all over Europe," she said. Sometimes, "they would play a group of locals."

In April 1960, Mr. Coia was named Soldier of the Month for Special Unit Four of the Fourth Battalion, she said.

When he returned to South Jersey, he worked for his father-in-law's construction firm before becoming a brewmaster from 1965 to 1972 at Eastern Brewing Corp. in Hammonton, which closed in 1990.

In 1974, Mr. Coia and his wife, Angela, began a 40-year career as owners and operators of the Country Farm Market on Hendricks Avenue near the White Horse Pike.

"He thought it would be something they would enjoy," their daughter said.

In 1980, they added Mama D's Italian Specialities, a catering service there.

Besides his wife and daughter, Mr. Coia is survived by son James, two brothers, a sister, and four grandchildren.

A viewing was set from 9:30 to 11 a.m. Friday, June 6, at Assumption Church, 318 Carl Hasselhan Dr., Atco, before an 11:30 a.m. Funeral Mass there, with burial in Oak Grove Cemetery, Hammonton.

Donations may be sent to St. Joseph's High School at www.stjoek12.org.

Condolences may be offered to the family at www.carnesalefuneralhome.com.