[1] Coggs died at St. Mary's Hospital, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin from a long illness on December 9, 2003.
She attended the Milwaukee State Teachers College from 1955–56 and earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
[2] Before entering politics, Marcia Coggs worked for 13 years for the former Milwaukee County Children's Home.
She successfully ran for Wisconsin State Assembly in 1976, just three years after the death of her husband.
[4] In addition, she was the first black person to sit on the state Legislature's Joint Finance Committee, serving from 1987 until 1993.