You could say, in a way, that Coy Monroe Kiser Jr. wound up in law because he wasn't good in math.
As a cadet at Fishburne Military Academy in Waynesboro, he set his sights on working for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
After graduating, several judges recommended him for a clerkship at the FBI, and he spent time working in fingerprinting and giving tours.
But to get a serious FBI job, "you had to have law or accounting. He was not great in math. His first aspiration was to go to law school," said Evelyn Sloyer Kiser, his wife of 51 years.
Mr. Kiser, who went on to serve as Virginia's first public defender and retired in 1993 as a general district judge in the 25th Judicial District, died Saturday in an Augusta County hospital.
A celebration of the life of the 79-year-old Waynesboro resident will be held Saturday at 11 a.m. at Main Street United Methodist Church in Waynesboro, where he was a longtime member.
The son of a Charlotte, N.C., grocer's family, he graduated with a political science degree at the University of Richmond and earned a law degree at Mercer University. He taught for a year at Fishburne while he studied for the bar.
After a time in private practice, the General Assembly named him Virginia's first public defender in 1972. He was to improve the quality of legal services to indigent defendants in an alternative pilot program in the Staunton-Waynesboro area that went beyond having courts appoint attorneys for defendants.
"He (often) got home at 9 p.m. at night and worried more than any of his clients did about his cases," his wife said. "He often didn't sleep at night.
"He wanted to prove (the program) was needed, to prove that it was the right thing to do. He wanted to keep it going in Virginia. Now there are hundreds (of public defenders)."
During the two years he served in the post, "he had more threats than he did as a judge," his wife said.
Mr. Kiser was elected a general district court judge for the 24th Judicial District in 1974 and was serving in the 25th District when he retired. At the time, his district included Lynchburg and the counties of Amherst and Nelson. He served as a substitute judge until about 2010.
"He liked the challenge and (the idea) of justice for all, not for any group of people. Rich or poor — it didn't matter," his wife said.
As a judge, Mr. Kiser took an interest in those who stood before him. "If someone got out of jail and said he was out of work or did not have any money, he sent them to me to do work around our home and yard," his wife said.
He had served as a member and chairman of the Public Defender Commission, which honored him for his legal work.
Mr. Kiser, a former athlete who followed college baseball with interest, was a member of the Waynesboro Elks Lodge, Acca Temple and Lee Masonic Lodge 209, AF & AM.
Survivors, besides his wife, include a son, Clinton H. Kiser of Fredericksburg; and two stepgrandchildren.
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