With great sadness, we mourn the passing of Wilfred “Bill” Coggins, who founded what would become Kaiser Permanente’s Watts Counseling and Learning Center in California. Coggins celebrated his 98th birthday in February 2025.
Coggins developed the “Watts Project” to address community drivers of inequitable health outcomes and other social challenges after being hired in the aftermath of the 1965 civil unrest in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. In 1967, Coggins became the founding executive director of what was then known as the Kaiser Permanente Parent-Child Center. In 1976, the facility was renamed the Kaiser Permanente Watts Counseling and Learning Center. He led the center until his retirement in 1998 and continued to be an advisor and ardent supporter of his successors including current director, Maria Aguirre.
Coggins, always humble, recognized others from inside and outside the organization who helped make the center a reality, even though he was seen as the pioneer. His vision, intelligence, compassion, drive, and deep connection with people and the community were indispensable. He was witty and wise, a Renaissance man. Coggins’ commitment to children and families was deep. He was a friend, mentor, teacher, confidante, and inspiration to so many.
In 2024, at the grand opening of the new center and new Watts Medical Offices, Coggins received the George Halvorson Community Health Leadership Award. It was a fitting tribute because that campus would not have existed without his dedication and ardor for meeting the needs of the community served by the center.
Perhaps an even more special day came on Veterans Day in 2024 at the Watts Friends and Family Day when past and present employees and clients of the center, and their families, gathered at the new Watts campus. Bill Coggins was known to say to client families, “Your best is yet to come.” Friends and family reunited with Coggins on that occasion to celebrate how far we’ve come.
Bill Coggins’ daughter, Valerie Owens-Wright, survives him along with his stepchildren and grandchildren. His wife, June Coggins, passed before him in early February 2025.
