Tri-State Petroleum Mourns Loss of Company Founder

WHEELING, W.Va. -- Tri-State Petroleum Corp., a family-owned company, is mourning the loss of its founder Edward J. Coyne Sr., who died on July 7. He was 83.

Coyne founded Tri-State Petroleum in 1974 as a wholesale distributor of fuel products. The company grew into a convenience store operator and a servicer of Marathon- and BP-branded accounts and commercial and industrial accounts in Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania.

Coyne served as president and chairman of the company until his retirement in 2005. He then served as chairman emeritus during his retirement.

“My father leaves an impressive legacy behind – as a successful entrepreneur who built and grew a thriving family-owned business and as a loving family man who was adored by his children and grandchildren alike,” said Colleen C. McGlinn, CEO of Tri-State Petroleum and Coyne’s eldest child. “We also remember his unwavering devotion to education and to his hometown of Wheeling. Through the Education Alliance Grant Program sponsored by ExxonMobil Corp., [my father] helped to raise more than $150,000 for schools in the Ohio Valley and in the greater Pittsburgh area.”

During his lifetime, Coyne also served on the board of directors for the Linsly School, Wheeling Hospital, First National Bank and Wheeling Jesuit College.

He is survived by his five children and nine grandchildren.