Ronald Coyne, My Husband's Brother
By Betty Coyne
The Book My Mother-In-Law Gave Me
Years ago when my husband's family lived on a farm near Pierce City, MO in a little community called Ritchey I met the Coyne family and Mrs. Coyne, Lydia, gave me a book that she had written and published. The book told the story of her middle son, Ronald, and the miracle God worked in his life. The book was a 1963 Edition.
The cover looked like this:
The book was signed by Lydia:
The first chapter of the Book entitled “Whereas I was blind, now I see!” John 9:25 (KJV) answers the question I asked my husband the first time I heard of Ronnie’s miracle: “Does he see all the time or just in church services?” What a foolish question! When God performs a Miracle He doesn’t set limits. The man in John 9:25 whom Jesus healed of blindness from birth could see all the time from then on and so could Ronald Coyne.
In the second chapter of the Book entitled “My Grace is sufficient for thee!” II Cor. 12:9, is the full name of Ronald: Roscoe Ronald Jesse Coyne. His birth date was July 15, 1943. He was born at Chouteau, Oklahoma. At that time Roy, Ronald’s father, was a Jordan Engine Operator at the Du Pont Powder Plant. Lydia, became afflicted with severe heart trouble and suffered for six or seven years after my husband, Donald, was born in 1945.
The third chapter of the Book entitled “Not my will, but thine, be done.” Luke 22:42 relates that the family moved to Sapulpa, Oklahoma in May of 1950 and bought a little place on South Water Street. This is the place were in August, 1950 the accident happened that caused Ronald’s right eyeball to be removed.
Ronald and Donald had slipped out of the house while Mom was napping [they were supposed to be napping as well] and were playing when Ronald was swinging a wire it caught in his right eye. Donald led him into the house and told their mother. Ronald was taken to Dr. Otis Lee at the Springer Clinic in Tulsa OK and was admitted into St. John’s Hospital in Tulsa. On Saturday of the second week Ronald went into surgery and they were told that the eye had to be removed.
Chapter four “A little child shall lead them.” Isa. 11:6 states that Ronald went home from the hospital in about four days after the operation. For the next ten months he was blind where that right eye had been. Then during Vacation Bible School Ronald came home and told Mom he got saved. He had attended Church and Sunday School all his life and knew what it meant to be saved.
Chapter five “But ye are…a peculiar people.” I Peter 2:9 relates in June of 1951 the family began attending a Revival and Healing Campaign in the Junior High School auditorium at Sapulpa, Oklahoma. It was sponsored by the Assembly of God church where Rev. Lonnie Osborn was the pastor. Rev. Osborn’s sister, Evangelist Daisy Gillock, was praying for people for healing and Ronald went forth to have prayer for his tonsils. She also prayed for his blinded eye to see. And he began to see! “It’s a Miracle!” was the only explanation of what happened.
Chapter six “Lo, I am with you always.” Matthew 28:20 states that the local newspaper wrote an article on the healing and left out God’s name completely so when reporters from Tulsa World and Tulsa Tribune came Mom hesitated to wake Ronald; then Being assured that they would give God the glory in the article she granted the interview. They wrote a wonderful testimony and ran three pictures of Ronald in the morning paper.
Three months later Lydia felt the Lord would have her ‘Go and tell the people’ as she prayed concerning the testimony doors began to open for them and the rest of Ronald’s life was focused on traveling everywhere demonstrating the Miracle of sight God had given him.
Chapter seven “With God nothing shall be impossible.” Luke 1:37 contains some Newspaper articles that were published about Ronald.
The Newspaper Articles I have Collected thus far:
Thursday, June 28, 1951 Age 7
Sapulpa Herald Sapulpa OK
Friday, June 29, 1951 Age 7
Tulsa World Tulsa OK
Saturday, June 30, 1951 Age 7
Tulsa World Tulsa OK
Friday, May 29, 1953 Age 9
Chattanooga News-Free Press
Chattanooga, TN
Saturday, July 12, 1958 Age 15
Humboldt Times Eureka CA
Thursday, July 28, 1960 Age 17
Winnipeg Free Press
Winnipeg, Manitoba (Canada)
May—June 1962 Age 19
Monett Times Monett, MO
LP recorded live Age 30
Bloomington, CA & Shreveport LA
1988 newspaper Age 46
Berkeley, CA
I will present here copies of each article followed by typed transcription as some of the print is small and difficult to read.
Transcription:
Sapulpa Herald June 28, 1951
Seven-Year-Old Sapulpa Boy Says 'Yes'
Can Vision Return If Eye Is Gone?
By C. R. M_____
Can vision...be restored through mental processes?
Yes, says Mrs. R. R. Coyne, 1029 S. Water and her seven-year-old son, Ronald.
Ronald's eye was punctured last fall by a piece of wire and it was necessary to remove the eye. A Tulsa eye doctor performed the operation and fitted the boy with a plastic eye after scaling off the nerves.
Mrs. Coyne said Ronald had been suffering from bad tonsils and she decided to take him to the "healing services" being conducted at Rev. L. L. Osborn's [should be T.L.] Assembly of God church.
While there, Ronald was told he could see through the plastic eye where no mechanical or physical means of vision exists.
At the invitation of the mother, this reporter visited the home and conducted tests which indicate the boy has some talent for observation with his good left eye hood-winked.
I gave a series of tests while the boy's sister, Carol, 19-year-old telephone worker, held a folded handkerchief tightly over the boy's good eye.
Prior to these tests, the boy was taken to an optometrist here in Sapulpa and he conducted tests of Ronald's vision. I was not present at the optometrist's tests.
The tests I made were by holding an object and asking "what is this?" Except for the first one.
The first trial was when I asked Ronald how many fingers I was holding up. I held two and he answered "three."
I next held up a Zippo cigarette lighter engraved with a picture of OG&E's Reddy Killowatt with arm upraised and he saw "a woman's small purse with a hinge and a picture of a boy swinging a rope on it."
When a dime was held out to him, he replied, "dime." An ash tray was correctly identified.
When a package of cigarettes was held up, Ronald took a long time before he would say what he thought it was, finally he said "pencil" and when told that was not right, he tried for a few moments more and identified it as "cigarettes."
The last test I made was holding a pencil up. He replied "Dime."
On several occasions, objects were held up including a penny, billfold and handkerchief, but Ronald, while turning his head to see it better, accidentally got away from the blindfold.
It took him at leas 15 seconds to
(Continued on Page Two) ----- (Continued from Page One)
identify each object I showed him and nearly two minutes to correctly identify the package of cigarettes.
When his mother asked him questions in my presence, he was much more rapid in his responses.
She pointed at my eye glasses, and he replied "glasses."
She pointed to a ring on my finger and he shot back "ring."
She pointed to Ronald's younger brother's knee which had a slight scratch on it, and he said "Nubby's sore knee." Nubby is the nickname of Donald, the brother.
Tests conducted by the optometrist were conducted in the optometrist's office where the question "what is this?" was asked, followed by "what color is it?"
A large ...[this word not clear]... "E" was flashed on a screen with a red and green background Ronald saw "green and red."
When the red and green background was removed, Ronald could not identify the "E" which the optometrist said is a test for two-percent vision.
When a green spectacle case was held out, Ronald said, "It's red."
He was unable to identify a magazine as such and could not tell it's colors which were yellow, black and white.
He was shown a picture of an airplane with the caption "The B-36" in blue letters.
He was unable to identify it but when asked what color the letters were, replied "green."
Rev. Osborn, who accompanied the boy to the optometrist's office held up a magazine with a picture of a baby on the cover, Ronald replied "baby."
What is the answer? It is "vision with the mind" through religious faith? Mental telepathy? Or what?
TRANSCRIPTION:
Tulsa Daily World
Tulsa, Oklahoma, Friday, June 29, 1951
—World Staff Photos by D. Leroy Randall
Plastic Eye ‘Miracle’
Seven –year-old Ronald Coyne holds his artificial eye, left photo. Then with his plastic orb in place, he masks his good eye and correctly describes the positions of the opened blades of a pen knife, center, and accurately indicates the number of fingers held before his face, right. The lad’s mother reported he was able to ‘see’ with the artificial eye after a visit to a Sapulpa church.
Boy’s ‘Sight’ With Plastic Eye Puzzling to Skeptics
By Gilbert Asher
Of the World Staff
SAPULPA, June 28— Does Ronald Coyne actually see with his artificial eye?
Seven-year-old Ronald says yes. His mother, crediting the modern-day miracle to the work of God says, yes.
Some skeptics say no.
Two skeptical Tulsa World Staff members watched a demonstration by Ronald Thursday that left them with an odd feeling.
With a thickness of folded handkerchief covering his one natural eye, Ronald identified objects held before his face, quickly named colors of the objects and described hand gestures executed.
He ‘read’ words in a newspaper headline—the words his seven-year-old mind could comprehend without hesitation.
* * *
That was during the first part of a test made by the doubting newspaper men—a reporter and a photographer.
Just as suddenly Ronald’s artificial eye was blinded. He failed to identify simple objects. He called out two when three fingers were held before his serious young face.
“I’m sorry,” he apologized. “All of a sudden I can’t seem to see with the eye.”
His mother, Mrs. R. R. Coyne, blamed “the devil” for the temporary loss of sight in the plastic eye.
“The devil is trying to take away Ronnie’s sight,” she asserted. “It was God’s work allowing Ronnie to see with the plastic eye.” “God wants him to see, but the devil is working hard too.”
Ten months ago, Ronald was twirling a piece of wire when the sharpened of the metal pierced the iris of his right eye. Infection developed and he was removed to a Tulsa hospital where it was found that the eye would have to be taken out by surgery.
Last October the third-grade elementary school student was fitted with the artificial eye. He never entertained hope he would be able to see with the plastic eye until eight days ago.
* * *
“We went in a meeting at the Assembly of God church,” said Mrs. Coyne. “Ronnie had been having trouble with his throat and he went forward to have Sister Daisy Gillock anoint him and pray for him (Mrs. Gillock of Tulsa is holding a meeting at the church).
“Sister Gillock anointed his throat and then she noticed the cloudiness of the artificial eye. Not knowing that it was a plastic eye, she began praying that Ronnie’s sight be restored.”
“All of a sudden” said Ronnie, “I knew I could see with the plastic eye. Sister Gillock put her hand over my good eye and held up her hand. I saw that she had three fingers sticking out. She did some other things and I could see the same as if it was my good eye that was looking.”
Mrs. Coyne said she had Ronald examined by a Sapulpa osteopathic physician who attributed the ability of Ronald to see to “telepathy.”
“Ronnie identified objects for the doctor and even described the color of some of the things,” said Mrs. Coyne.
The Coynes, who are parents of three other children two sons 5
See PLASTIC EYE on Page 6
PLASTIC EYE
Continued from Page One
and 11 and a daughter, 19, live in a simple three-room house at 1029 S. Water Ave. Coyne is a laborer at a Sapulpa glass manufacturing plant.
Both parents at first balked at publicizing Ronald’s ability to “see” with the artificial eye.
“It was God working in one of his wondrous ways,” said Mrs. Coyne.
“Are you sure that Ronnie can see with the eye?” Coyne asked a reporter.
“I only know what I saw,” replied the reporter.
The father then explained that he wanted to have Ronald examined by the same doctor in Tulsa who removed the damaged eye and installed the plastic eye.
“I want to be sure,” he said.
During the first part of the “test,” Ronald correctly identified a pen knife and described with his fingers the position of the opened blades.
* * *
He quickly called out the number of fingers held up by a reporter—never hesitating when the number was changed rapidly. He identified a red colored fountain pen, a package of cigarets and a pocket comb. His hands never touched any of the objects.
Most of the tests were performed while his mother was absent from the house.
Later Thursday night, Mrs. Coyne told a reporter by telephone that her son’s sight in the artificial eye had again returned.
The Tulsa physician who removed Ronald’s eye said he would withhold his opinion until he had had a chance to examine the lad.
“I won’t say he can see with the artificial eye and I won’t say that he cannot. Seeing is believing. I want to see him.”
_________________________________________
TRANSCRIPTION:
Tulsa Daily World
Tulsa, Oklahoma, Saturday, June 30, 1951
Medic Baffled by Boy’s ‘Sight’ With Plastic Eye
—World’s Own Service
SAPULPA, June 29—Ronald Coyne’s ability to “see” with an artificial eye continued to baffle skeptics today.
The 7-year-old lad’s mother, Mrs. R. R. Coyne, reported he was examined by an Iowa physician who is visiting in Sapulpa and that the medical doctor left the Coyne home “amazed by what he had seen with his own eyes.”
Mrs. Coyne said Ronald identified objects and distinguished between colors for the benefit of the visiting physician, who went to the Coyne residence after reading a newspaper account of the modern-day “miracle.” Ronald’s good eye was masked during the test, Mrs. Coyne said.
—Meanwhile, a Tulsa doctor who removed the boy’s right eye last August after it was irreparably damaged in an accident, reported he would examine Ronald at his Tulsa office Monday afternoon.
“I don’t say the boy can see with the plastic eye,” said the physician, “and I won’t say that he cannot see with the eye. Seeing is believing. I want to subject the lad to an examination before I form an opinion.”
Ronald claims he was able to see with the plastic eye after visiting a Sapulpa church meeting and having the eye anointed by the conductor of the meeting. His mother attributes the “sight” in the artificial eye to the “work of God.”
Mrs. Coyne said an Oklahoma radio station representative talked with Ronald on the telephone Friday and that a recording was made of the phone conversation. The recording she said, was to be aired over the station Friday night.
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