THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 28, 1994 TAG: 9408280086
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
Two brothers, described as inseparable since their childhood in Portsmouth, died together when they fell from a roof as one tried to save the other's life.
Rubin Lee Coker III, 36, and Earl DeWitt Coker, 30, fell Friday night while playing a game of football with Rubin's children on the roof of the Saratoga Apartments in southeast Washington.
``They were inseparable,'' said Everline Coker, 41, the men's sister. She still lives in Portsmouth, as do her three sisters and their mother.
``You know how children are when they are growing up? How brothers and sisters don't get along until they are older? Well, we have always been a close-knit family,'' said Coker, who serves in the Army National Guard.
Police said the brothers had barbecued on the roof of Rubin's apartment building with his 6-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son. After dinner, the brothers began tossing a football.
About 9:45 p.m., Earl ran near the edge to catch a pass and apparently lost his footing, The Washington Post reported. When Rubin attempted to pull him back, they both tumbled over the side.
Authorities said the brothers fell about 50 feet before landing side-by-side on the sidewalk in front of the building. Rubin's children saw the accident and screamed in horror, witnesses said. Al Wilson, the building's resident manager, told The Post he often admonished Rubin to stay off the roof, which is accessible only by a fire escape ladder on the outside of the four-story building.
Everline Coker said the family lived in the Washington Park section of Portsmouth when she and her siblings were growing up.
``Rubin was the fourth oldest and Earl was the baby,'' she said. Both of her brothers graduated from Cradock High School, Rubin in 1977 and Earl in 1981.
The boys, who sometimes joked about being twins despite the difference in their ages, were very close, she said. Growing up, they often would be found playing basketball together.
Earl left Portsmouth in 1985 and went to work in the maintenance department at Virginia Union University. He lived with Everline while she was stationed in Richmond.
``When I was reassigned back here, he stayed to watch my house,'' she said.
Rubin left Portsmouth to move to Washington five years ago. He was working as a computer technician at the Department of Agriculture.
Most weekends, the brothers would get together in Washington, Everline Coker said. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Earl D. Coker, 30, left, and Rubin L. Coker III, 36, died Friday
night while playing a rooftop game of football.
KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT GENERAL FATALITIES by CNB