Jason Coyle, RIP, business leader with kind heart

Obituary, Jason Coyle, RIP

Jason Coyle, who has died in the UK, was a member of the Coyle family of Finea who run the multi-award winning business, Mr. Crumb.

Jason was the eldest of Patricia and Bernard’s four children. Following his primary school education in Castlepollard, Jason became a boarder at St Patrick’s College, Cavan, and there he discovered a love of art, music, handball and history.

His enjoyment of music and history in particular stayed with him throughout his adult life. In his undergraduate arts degree at UCD, he also discovered a deep interest in philosophy, as well as a sense of adventure and travel which led to him travelling the world in his 20s.

The family business beckoned, however, and Jason returned home with a burning ambition to launch Mr. Crumb into a global enterprise.

That ambition prompted him to undertake further studies in the domain of business. His close friend Paul McBride from his MBA class described him as the baby of the group, but with ambitions way beyond his years.

Jason dedicated the rest of his career to growing the Mr. Crumb business, leading their sales and marketing division and later taking on general management duties alongside Bernard. He led the business to numerous awards, which have been well documented over the years.

Given the important market base in the UK, Jason chose to base himself in London and travelled back and forth to the factory, sometimes on a weekly basis.

There he established an amazing circle of friends and neighbours, who all described meeting a kind, generous, witty and mischievous Irishman. He spoke always about his deep love for his family, his pride in the family business and the rural area in which he grew up.

In his eulogy, his friend described how “he kept his kindness like buried treasure, ready to be pulled out at a moment’s notice, especially to older people he encountered”. He also joked that “it’s amazing what a childhood in Finea can do for a man!”.

Jason’s parents, Bernard and Patricia, sisters Sabrina and Shauna and brother Conrad remember him as the head of the family, who always looked out for them with a sense of protectiveness, though also with a practical joke always up his sleeve!

They supported him quietly throughout the two years of his illness, which he battled fiercely, with courage and dignity. Jason sadly lost his battle on November 5 last and was laid to rest in Finea cemetery on Monday November 18.

He is deeply missed by all those who knew and loved him, and that was highlighted by the circle of friends who travelled to his funeral at short notice from across the country and from the UK and France.