Ninth Generation

17392. Austin Doyle Coffey was born on 26 May 1921 in Oklahoma. He lived with his parents in Meridian Twp., Roger Mills Co., OK on 23 April 1930. Austin died in Payson, Gila Co., AZ on 18 May 2012 and was buried at Mountain Meadows Memorial Park in Payson, Gila Co., AZ on 26 May 2012 .^43974,43975

Obituary, The Casa Grande Dispatch, Casa Grande, Pinal Co., AZ, Thu., May. 24, 2012

PAYSON - Austin Doyle Coffey, 90, a retired teacher and formerly of Casa Grande, died on May 18, 2012. 

Mr. Coffey was born near Sweetwater, Okla., in 1921 and raised on a family farm homesteaded by his parents, Austin and Louiette. The youngest of seven children, he was raised during the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. He loved horses and sports, played basketball and competed in track. Throughout his life he was a crooner and could often be found singing hymns and songs from "Your Hit Parade." He joined the Navy in 1942 and served as a Seabee on the island of Tulagi in the South Pacific during World War II. In 1945 he married Bonnie Prowell and they had a daughter, Nancy. 

After the war, he attended Oklahoma State University and graduated with a degree in agriculture. He loved farming, and he moved to Casa Grande, where he worked for Shell Chemical, inspecting farms for insect control. After acquiring tuberculosis and spending a year in a hospital, he changed careers and began teaching math and science. He and Bonnie divorced and in 1961, he married Margaret Watson-Cowan. Together they raised Nancy and Margaret's daughter, Tina Cowan. While in Casa Grande, he was an active member in the Lions and Elks clubs, was an avid painter and was president of a local teachers association. He was skilled working with his hands and built a house in Casa Grande and a cabin in Payson. 

He continued to teach until his retirement in 1982, when he and Margaret moved to Payson, a town he considered the "most beautiful place on earth." During his retirement he contributed greatly to his community. He helped to get school bonds passed, represented Payson on the Gila Community College Advisory Board and convinced voters to fund Eastern Arizona College satellite campuses around Gila County. For years, the Payson campus ran out of a strip mall off Beeline Highway. He fought for an actual campus, rallying the community to call their representatives and demand a college. 

The state Legislature approved the first million-dollar appropriation for the college in 1998. After more pressure, another million dollars followed and soon Mr. Coffey was breaking ground for the Gila Community College campus. During this odyssey, he endured fibromyalgia, heart trouble, a hip replacement and arthritis as well as the joy and burden of raising two grandsons. 

Over the years he received many awards, including Payson Man of the Year in 1999. During his final years, he authored many stories from his life including a book on his pursuit for Gila Community College in Payson. He was respected and beloved by many in the Payson and Casa Grande communities. 

Survivors include his wife of 51 years; his daughter, Nancy; and two grandsons. 

The service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Messinger's Payson.

A living couple was married in 1945 and were divorced before 1960. Living (private).

Austin Doyle Coffey and Living had the following children:

Austin Doyle Coffey and Margaret Watson were married in 1960. Margaret Watson was born on 26 December 1922 in Phoenix, Maricopa Co., AZ. Margaret died at Family Tys Assisted Living Home in Casa Grande, Pinal Co., AZ on 23 September 2017 and a memorial service was held Oct. 7, 2017. Ashes are cared for at Mountain Meadows Memorial Park in Payson, Gila Co., AZ in September 2017 .^43976,43977

Obituary, The Casa Grande Dispatch, Casa Grande, AZ, Sat., Sep. 30, 2017

Margaret W. Coffey, 94, died on Saturday, September 23, 2017, at the Family Tys Assisted Living Home in Casa Grande.

A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, October 7, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. at Cole & Maude, Gardens Chapel, 525 N. Peart Road, Casa Grande, Arizona with Reverend Paul Elgin of First Presbyterian Church of Casa Grande officiating.

Margaret was born on December 26, 1922 in Phoenix, Arizona to Michael Berry and Verdie Ora Watson. She lived in Arizona her entire life. She briefly attended Kenilworth School and then moved to Tucson, Arizona at the age of five, enrolling in first grade at Sam Hughes School. She attended schools in Tucson and Sahuarita until 1935 when the family moved to Gilbert, AZ.

Margaret graduated from Gilbert High School in 1940 and attended Arizona State Teachers College (NAU) and later the University of Arizona in Tucson. She worked at various positions in Tucson and Phoenix where she met and married Alex P. Cowan in 1947. Their daughter, Christina Lyn Cowan was born in 1949 in Mesa, AZ. Alex and Margaret were divorced and in 1956, Margaret and Tina moved to Casa Grande. She worked for Irwin & Irwin Insurance and Electric District II. In 1960, she met and married Austin Doyle Coffey. They were married for 51 years, raising Tina, and Doyle's daughter, Nancy.

In 1982, when Doyle retired from teaching math and science at the Casa Grande Junior High School, they moved to Star Valley, Arizona. Nine years later, they moved to Payson, where Margaret was very active in Northern Gila County Genealogy Society and raising her two grandsons, Christopher and Cortney Hamilton. Margaret moved to Family Tys Assisted Living Home in Casa Grande in September of 2012 after the death of her husband.

Margaret is survived by her step-daughter, Nancy Hamilton Hughes (Ron) of Tucson; grandsons, Christopher Hamilton (Marie) of Mesa, Cortney Hamilton of San Francisco; brother, Ralph B. Watson (Margaret) of Fort Smith, AR and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, Doyle Coffey, of Payson; daughter, Tina Cowan of Payson; three sisters, Wanda Hackworth and Barbara Chaffey of Casa Grande, and Wilma Boyle of Anchorage, Alaska.

Contributions in Margaret's name may be sent to Compassus Hospice and Palliative Care, 1675 E. Monument Plaza Circle, Casa Grande, AZ.