Blytheville man once swam the Panama Canal

(Editor’s Note: The following story was first published in Concord Publishing’s 2024 senior magazine. However, with the anniversary of the Panama Canal approaching, I wanted to remind our readers of the Blytheville man who swam the Canal.)

By Sandra Brand

NEA Town Courier Editor

If you grew up in the 1960s and 70s in Blytheville, Arkansas, more than likely Jesse Coalter taught you how to swim. He may have even saved your life.

Jessie Coalter and his wife, Roxanne, operated the swimming pool from 1963-1980. During that time, the certified swimmer gave more than 5,000 private swimming lessons. He also served as an instructor for the American Red Cross and YMC, teaching thousands of more kids to swim.

Coalter was born out in the country between Flat Lake and Yarbro to Bryon and Dora Coalter. He had two brothers and a half sister.

As a young boy, he attended school at Flat Lake. In the third grade, he transferred to the Sudbury School before attending East Junior High and High School in Blytheville. A year before graduation, the young man quit school and went to work on the Mississippi River.

However, it wasn’t long before his mentor, Coach Russell Mosley, discovered he had dropped out. He found the young man and told him to get back to school. Coalter did what the coach said and graduated in 1955.

In 1956, he was off to the Army, swimming competitively for three years in the Panama Canal Zone. Coalter swam the back stroke and free style on a relay team. And, yes, he won a few trophies.

The journey actually began some five years earlier, when he began sneaking into the Walker Park pool. He was soon sweeping the bottom of the pool for the privilege of swimming free.

Then, at the age of 14, Coach Mosley hired him as a life-guard, and, as they say, the rest is history. Before long, he was spending the night at the pool to stop people from climbing over the fence and swimming at night.

“Coach Mosley was the best man I ever came across,” Coalter said, “He taught me to respect myself.”

Following the Army, Coalter took off for Illinois to work for Western Union before traveling on to California. “I found out the gold rush was over and came back home,” Coalter smiled.

He soon settled back down in Chickasaw territory. He married his wife, Roxanne, and the couple had one daughter, Leslie.

He took a job as youth director of the YMCA where he taught a variety of sports to the young people, including swimming. In 1963, he resigned and went to work for the U.S. Postal Service.

About the same time, he leased the swimming pool from the Fair Board and soon the Coalter Clearpool was open for business.

Coalter would deliver the mail in the morning and run the swimming pool in the afternoon. His wife, who the young kids at the pool nicknamed “Foxy Roxy,” would sell the tickets.

Somehow, Coalter found time to attend college courses at the local air base. He earned a degree from Southern Baptist College and Park College in business management and economics.

“I graduated college 25 years after high school,” he laughed.

In 1980, the Coalters turned the swimming pool over to the City of Blytheville.

The Myers brothers, Matthew and Doug, then decided the man who had taught them both how to swim and later hired them as life guards could not live without a swimming pool. So, they built one in his backyard. He will forever be grateful.

Around 20 years ago, Coalter also retired from the Post Office after 35 years of service.

Around six years ago, the couple decided to move to Pecan Street. And, yes, there is a swimming pool in the backyard.... often enjoyed by the neighborhood kids.

And Coalter is still up to his old ways. One of those neighborhood kids came over, but could not swim. Coalter told him to place his head under the water and say “my dog has fleas... what about you and me”... then start moving his arms.

Coalter’s beloved wife, Roxie, passed away Oct. 31, 2022. They had been married 58 years.

Coalter continues to be recognized just about every day “as the man who taught me to swim.” He is also a part of the Dixie Pig afternoon coffee group.

Note: The Blytheville swimming pool was opened for the first time June 30, 1936. It was part of a $100,000 WPA project. The pool was 100 feet wide and 200 feet long. The water was two feet around the edges and 10 feet in the center.

An article in the June 27, 1936 Saturday edition of the Courier News reported children 12 and under were charged 10 cents to swim in the pool. All over 12 were charged 25 cents.