ST. SIMONS ISLAND - Sam Cofer, formerly a state Department of Natural Resources board member and a Glynn County commissioner, died Saturday of cardiac arrest. He was 81 years old. <br>
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In 1975, then-Governor George Busbee appointed Cofer to fill the remaining 18 months of an unexpired Board of Natural Resources term. Busbee then appointed him to a full seven-year term. Cofer served as the board's chairman in 1980. <br>
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Cofer won a special election in 1986 to fill the unexpired term of Glynn County Commissioner Willou Smith, who had resigned to run for the General Assembly. <br>
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He also served as chairman of the North Georgia Mountain Authority and was a member of the Wildlife Conservation League of Georgia, the Navy League and the St. Simons Rotary Club. <br>
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Cofer is survived by his wife, Marie Joyner Cofer; a son, Donnie Cofer of Saint Simons Island; and a daughter, Patricia Barefoot of Brunswick.
