Mrs. Ruth Coffey passed away on October 15, 2009.She was born in Oak Harbor, Ohio and moved to Santa Rita, New Mexico at an early age. She grew up there and attended New Mexico Western in Silver City. A year at Capitol University near Columbus brought her to an English class with Cecil Coffey where they sat next to each other due to alphabetical seating. Ruth stayed in Columbus and married Cecil "Red" Coffey on August 30, 1942. Red graduated from Capitol and then entered the Coast Guard during World War II. Ruth worked in Columbus during that time. She later graduated from New Mexico Western.
After the war, Red attended New Mexico School of Mines in Socorro. When he graduated they moved to Ray where they raised four children: Michael, Patricia, Jeffrey and Robin. Ruth and Red stayed in this area until 1995. During this period, they were both active in community affairs. Ruth taught high school English at the Ray District Schools for twelve years. Most of those years were during the 1970s.
In 1995 they moved to Tucson to be closer to family and doctors. By this time both of them were beginning to show the effects of health issues. After five years of living in the Tucson Mountain area, they moved to the Fountains, a retirement living complex. Red passed away in December, 2007 just shy of 91 years old. Ruth passed away in October, 2009 four months shy of 89 years old. They are survived by three children and three grandchildren.A memorial service for Ruth was held at Our Saviour's Lutheran Church in Tucson on November 21, 2009.
1 comment:
Mrs. Coffey was a real sweetie. I had her for two years of English and she was one of my favorite teachers, though she had to work to get us into Shakespeare. I remember thinking, "Shakespeare. Ew. Just...ew," and one student asked her, "You LIKE this stuff?" She answered, "ALL English teachers love Shakespeare. That's why they become English teachers." Well, that made an impression - I thought maybe I should give Shakespeare a chance. Thanks, Mrs. Coffey.
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