Richard Coston

In the early morning hours of August 10, 2022, Coach Richard Coston slipped away from this earthly existence and into the arms of his Heavenly father. He will forever be remembered as an amazing father, husband and coach.
Richard Coston was born on April 16, 1947 in Canandaigua, New York to Theda Clara Johnson and John Coston. Richard attended grade school in the finger lakes area of New York. He graduated from Canandaigua Academy on June 27, 1966. After graduation, Richard served an LDS Mission to the Western states which encompassed parts of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona. Richard loved serving the Lord and was able to have a great amount of success thanks to his love and caring personality towards everyone he met.
Following Richard s mission, he attended Ricks College and later went on to finish his Bachelor's Degree at Brigham Young University in Physical Education. While attending BYU, Richard met and married Christy Beale on August 24, 1972 in Los Angeles, California. Together they had four wonderful children, Tim, Kelly, Tara and Kaiti. Richard and Christy moved to Southern California where he fell in love with the sport of swimming. He was hired as an assistant coach at the Long Beach Swim Club. It was there that he learned from his mentor Dr. Dick Jochums. Richard and Christy later divorced.
In 1979, while living in Cedar City Richard met his second wife Melinda Morris. They were married on January 19,1980 in Cedar City, Utah. Their Marriage was later solemnized in the St. George Temple. With Melinda came a son, Cris. Together they had another son, Shawn. Melinda passed away June 26, 1992 following a courageous battle with brain cancer.
In December of 1994 following the death of Melinda, Richard met Marene Palmer. Richard and Marene were married on January 20, 1995 in the St. George LDS Temple. With Marene came four wonderful daughters Cassidi, Shannon, Stacie and Cristal.
In 1979, after lobbying diligently, Richard was given permission to create the Cedar High School Swim Teams. And was named head coach. Swimming became a passion of Richards for many years. He loved to see his swimmers do things in the pool they didn t think were possible. Richard had a way of bringing out the best in his athletes which drove them to success in many areas of their lives. Richard compiled a total of 14 State Championships with 6 of them being consecutive from 1994 to 1999. Richard s teams also won over 30 region championships from the mid-eighties until he retired in 2017. Richard was named Coach Of The Year many times throughout his coaching career and was also named as the Western Zones Coach of the year in 1997 Richard s records will stand for many years as he is one of the most successful, and award winning coaches in Utah Swimming history.
In late 2018, Richard was hospitalized with pneumonia. This illness started a steady decline in his health. In 2019 he began struggling to breathe and was diagnosed with COPD and the beginning stages of dementia. Richard struggled with the diseases and was later placed on oxygen in 2021. Richard was hospitalized on numerous occasions due to his health issues until his body was no longer able to go on. Throughout Richard s health issues he was determined to fight, he refused to be confined to a wheelchair and rarely used a walker even though he could barely walk. Richard s grit and determination was evident in everything he did.
Richard was an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He served faithfully in many callings in the church including Primary Teacher, Elders Quorum Presidency and High Council for the Cedar Stake. Richard had a strong testimony of the gospel and Savior Jesus Christ. Richard's faith in the Lord helped him through many tough times in his life including the death of his beloved wife Melinda.
Richard is survived by his loving wife Marene, children Tim (Krystal) Coston of American Fork, UT, Kelly (Kandyce) of Eagle Mountain UT, Tara Coston of Huntsville Alabama, Cris (Allie) Chamberlain of Price, UT, Shawn (Megan) Coston of Cedar City, UT, Cassidi (Josh) Hansen of San Diego CA, Shannon (Adam) Stoddart of Gilbert, AZ, Stacie (Kevin) Stein of Cedar City, UT, Cristal (Tom) Huish of Seattle, WA and Brother John Coston of Rochester, NY He is also survived by his beautiful grandchildren Sammi, Rylan, Camden, Alyssa, Ellie (Melinda), Tessa, Mikayla, Karissa, Christopher, Chaylee, Abygail, Cayden, Asher, Chloe, Gentry, Kyla Tayler, Sage, Kieya, Aisha, MacKenzie, Madison, Emerson, Sloan, Annie, Nicolas, Ezra, Evelynn and Lucy as well as Great Grandchildren Kai, Stella and Amelia
Richard is preceded in death by his parents, wife Melinda, daughter Mary (Kaiti), brother Alan Coston and grand-daughter Daisy.
Funeral Services will be held on Saturday August 20th, 2022 at 11:00 am at the Cedar Stake Center (155 E. 400 S., Cedar City, UT). Viewings will be held Friday August 19th, 2022 from 06:00 - 08:00 pm at Southern Utah Mortuary (190 N. 300 W. Cedar City, UT) and Saturday Morning from 09:30 - 10:30 am at the Church. Interment will be held at the Cedar City Cemetery, under the direction of Southern Utah Mortuary. Online condolences may be left at mortuary.org.
Click this link to view additional details about Richard's Services, including any available live streams: https://my.gather.app/remember/richard-coston