Paula Latta Coyne

Paula Latta Coyne, Horsewoman, Preservationist Paula Latta Coyne, wife of Charles C. Coyne, died quietly on Tuesday, May 14, 2012, in the presence of her husband and her daughter, Anna Elizabeth Coyne, at her home, Sycamore Run Farm, East Fallowfield Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. She suffered from ovarian cancer. Mrs. Coyne was born Paula J. Latta on April 13, 1949, at the Coatesville Hospital in Chester County, the daughter of John Y. Latta, II and Hazel S. Latta. She attended the Upland Country Day School, graduated from the Shipley School in Bryn Mawr, and received a B.A. in art and art history from Finch College, New York, in 1973. Prior to her marriage, she was the Merchandise Coordinator for J.E. Caldwell Co. in Philadelphia, and was responsible for the selection and marketing of all china and crystal for the six J.E.Caldwell stores. A noted horsewoman, Mrs. Coyne foxhunted regularly with Mr. Stewart's Cheshire Foxhounds and other hunts in the area, and owned, bred and trained horses, competing in all forms of competition. She and her hunter Pablo retired the Turf King Challenge Trophy at the Brandywine Hounds Point-to-Point by winning it three times, 1963, 1964 and 1966, and she made and trained her hunter Stormy Kantar, who was ridden professionally for her by Louis L. Neilson, III; Stormy became the leading timber horse of 1972, winning a number of major sanctioned races, including the A.M. Byers Cup at the Rolling Rock Races at the Rolling Rock Club in Ligonier, Pennsylvania. After Stormy Kantar bowed a tendon in a race, she worked patiently nursing him back to health, and rode him in 1975 in the Virginia 100 Mile Ride in Hot Springs, Virginia, where he was named Grand Champion. She was a committed preservationist, a director of Safety, Agriculture, Villages and Environment (S.A.V.E.), an organization dedicated to preserving the environment and character of Southern Chester County. She worked closely with the Brandywine Valley Association, the Brandywine Conservancy, and other conservation organizations, and was Chair of the East Fallowfield Township Historical Commission, lobbying in Chester County, Harrisburg and Washington, D.C. for historic, open-space and agricultural preservation. An active horticulturist, she campaigned at the county, state and national level for the use of native plants and the removal of invasive species; she was President of the West Chester Garden Club and designed and implemented the gardens at Sycamore Run Farm. Mrs. Coyne is the direct descendant of the Rev. Dr. James Latta, D.D., a member of the original graduating class of the University of Pennsylvania in 1757, was a founder and third moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in North American, and served as a Chaplain and solder of militia during the Revolutionary War. His son, also Rev. James Latta, served as minister of the Upper Octorara Presbyterian Church in Parkesburg, Chester County, Pennsylvania, where Mrs. Coyne was baptized and married, as were her parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. She is survived by her husband, Charles C. Coyne, who is an attorney with Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel and also Secretary and General Counsel of the Coyne Chemical Co., Inc. and their daughter, Anna Elizabeth Coyne, Head of the Department of Sales Practice Management and Analytics at Lincoln Financial Group; and by an aunt, Jane Latta of Pughtown, and three brothers, John Yates Latta, III of Wasilla, Alaska, William J. Latta of Chester Springs, and Francis Alison Latta of Fargo, North Dakota. A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. Saturday, June 9, at the Doe Run Presbyterian Church, East Fallowfield, Chester County, Pennsylvania.