Name:                     Opal Leota COFFEY

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Birth:                      27 Jan 1903

Death:                     21 Jan1964

Father:                     Newton COFFEY (1875-1969)

Mother:                   Adelia Gertrude ROBINSON (1878-1973)

 

Misc. Notes

NOTE FROM FRED COFFEY:

I hope to get someone to write a biography of Opal. I remember her as a child, and remember that she was an Army nurse. I remember she spoke fluent German, and taught me a few words, but don’t recall much else.

 

She lived in California in her later years, as this note from the obituary of her Aunt Alvina indicates:

 

“Alvina Irene Robinson was born Jan. 25, 1876 in Decatur Co. IA and departed this life April 21, 1963.... Her niece Opal Coffey from Fort Orb, CA, came to be with her and care for her during her last illness.”

 

VELMA: She EARNED her position in the military, rose to be Major. Had to put up with a lot of grief from the men.

 

NEWSPAPER ARTICLE:

(Note: A Google search for the exercise noted below showed that the following article would have been dated 1962.)

 

"MAJOR COFFEY TO PRTICIPATE IN TRAINING MANEUVER

Army Nurse (Jaj.) Opal L. Coffey, daughter of Mr. And Mrs. Newton Coffey, Garden Grove, Iowa, is scheduled to participate with other personnel from the 301st Field Hospital in Exercise Mesa Drive, a two-week joint Army-Air Force training maneuver, at the Yakima (Wash.) Firing Center, May 7 – 21.

Over 26,000 Army troops and airmen will be engaged in Mesa Drive, the largest joint field training exercise held in the Pacific Northwest. The exercise is designed as a defensive combat maneuver in which a realistic enemy "Agressor" force will strike the "friendly" forces of the two participating divisions in simulated attacks utilizing all types of weapons employed in modern warfare.

 

Major Coffey, who is assigned to the staff of the hospital which is regularly located at Fort Ord, Calif., is a graduate of Humeston High School.

 

Before entering the Army Nurse Corps, she was employed at Martin Luther Hospital in Anaheim, Calif.

 

OBITUARY:

OPAL L. COFFEY

Major Opal L. Coffey, retired U.S. Army Nurse Corps, 61, of 3622 Sacramento Avenue, El Paso passed away Tuesday, January 21 in an army hospital in Texas.

 

She was a resident of El Paso, Texas for 6 months, and was a member of the Baptist Chursh. She retired January 1, 1963 with 22 years service. She attended the University of Chicago, and took her nurses training at the Los Angeles General Hospital. She entered the army at Brooke on August 8, 1941. Her overseas service included Australia, New Guinea, the Philippines (3 1/2 years) and Munich, Germany, where she was stationed with the 98th general hospital for four years. Among her decorations are the American Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal, the Philippine Liberation, the Army of Occupation in Germany and the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign.

 

She is survived by her parents, Mr. And Mrs. Newton Coffey, Garden Grove; sisters, Mrs. Carol Dickert, El Paso, Texas, Mrs. Mildred Fields, Pickins, South Carolina, Mrs. Erma Clare, Mansfield, Massachusetts, Mrs Dorothy Smith, Belton, Missouri, and Miss Velma Coffey, Colombia, South America; brothers, Carl of Leon, Leo and Raymond, Garden Grove, and William of Sun Valley, California.

 

Graveside services were held Thursday, January 23 and 10:00 a.m. with full military honors at Ft. Bliss National Cemetery (El Paso, Texas) with a protestant chaplain officiating.

 

Memo: Fort Bliss Cemetery Record as follows:

Coffey, Opal Leota, b. 01/17/1903, d. 01/21/1964, US Army, MAJOR, Res: El Paso, TX, Plot: B 0 385, bur. 01/23/1964

 

From Coffey Family stories and notes, compiled by Lynda Clare for 2005 Coffey Reunion:

Opal served in the military during World War II. She traveled a great deal and served as a lieutenant in the army, making a career of it. Opal lived in California and was near her sister Carol when she lived in Texas. Opal also served in Hawaii, Australia and Germany, among other places. She was far too busy to marry!

 

CENSUS 1930:  Opal L Coffy / b: abt 1903 in IA / Roomer / Living in Chicago, Cook, Illinois

CENSUS 1920:  Opal Coffey / b: abt 1903 in IA / Dau / Living in Clay, Wayne, Iowa

CENSUS 1910:  Opal L Coffey / b: abt 1903 in IA / Dau / Living in Clay, Wayne, Iowa

 

(In the 1930 census, she was working as a nurse in Chicago.)

 

Spouses

Unmarried: