Eighth Generation

9071. Dr. Ralph Ringo Coffey was born on 19 June 1899 in Parkville, Platte Co., MO. He registered for the WWI draft on 11 September 1918 in Kansas City, Jackson Co., MO.²⁷⁶⁰⁶ Ralph was inducted into military service on 20 September 1918 while living at 500 Bellefontaine Ave. Kansas City, Jackson Co., MO ²⁷⁶⁰⁷ Ralph resided with his parents in Kansas City, Kaw Twp., Jackson Co., MO on 3 January 1920. Dr. Coffey died on 28 January 1986 at the age of 86 at St Luke's Hospital in Kansas City, Jackson Co., MO and his body was cremated. A memorial service was held at Mount Moriah Cemetery in Kansas City, Jackson Co., MO on 31 January 1986.²⁷⁶⁰⁸

Dr. Ralph Ringo Coffey, 86, of 5211 Wornall Road, a physician, died Tuesday at St. Luke's Hospital.

Dr. Coffey was on the staff of St. Joseph Hospital from 1926 until he retired in 1969 and had been chief of surgery and president of the staff there. He had also been attending physician at St. Luke's Hospital and chief of surgery at General Hospital.

Dr. Coffey was a fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He was a fellow and part chairman of the board of regents of the International College of Surgeons and was president of its U.S. section in 1965. He was past president of the Kansas City and Missouri State surgical societies. He was president of the Kansas City Southwest Clinical Society in 1962 and 1966.

He established the Ralph Ringo Coffey Educational Fund for Clinical Surgeons to stimulate post-graduate instruction of students, interns, residents and area physicians in general clinical surgical care. He was chairman of the American Red Cross blood program in the Kansas City area and was a member of the local Red Cross board for 30 years.

Dr. Coffey was a member of the Committee of One and was named its patriot of the year in 1985. He was a member and past president of the Mercury Club and a member of the Greater Kansas City Area Chamber of Commerce. He was named to the 16th Circuit Judicial Commission by former Missouri Gov. John M. Dalton in 1963.

He was a 1921 graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia and was an M-Man at the college. He was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity at MU and in 1967 was chosen Phi-of-the-Year by the group's Greater Kansas City Alumni Association. He received a medical degree in 1925 from the University of Colorado, Denver.

He was an Army veteran of World War I and was a major in the Army Medical Corps in World War II, during which he received a Purple Heart and Bronze Star. He was a member of the Military Order of the World Wars. He was a member of the Kansas City Club and the Indian Hills Country Club. Dr. Coffey was a lifelong area resident.

He leaves his wife, Mrs. Lucia Besson Coffey of the home; a daughter, Mrs. Annette Coffey Walker, North Palm Beach, Fla.; two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Memorial services will be at 11 a.m. Friday at the Newcomer Brush Creek Chapel; cremation. The family requests no flowers and suggests contributions to the Ralph Ringo Coffey Education Fund for Clinical Surgery, in case of the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation, 1 Ward Parkway, Suite 145, Kansas City, Mo. 64112; or contributions for medical education and research to the St. Luke's Hospital Foundation, P. O. Box 1647, Kansas City, Mo 64141.

Dr. Ralph Ringo Coffey and Esther Alida Robertson were engaged on 22 March 1921 in Kansas City, Clay Co., MO.

Announcement, The Columbia Evening Missourian, Mar. 22, 1921, Page 3

Dr. and Mrs. J. Archie Robertson of Kansas City have announced the engagement of their daughter, Esthen Robertson, to Ralph R. Coffey, son of Dr. and Mrs. W. H. Coffey, also of Kansas City. The wedding will take place in Kansas City on Wednesday, May 4.

The announcement does not come as a surprise to their friends in Columbia. Miss Robertson was graduated from the University in 1920. She was a member of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority.

Mr. Coffey is in the School of Medicine and is a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. He will finish his school work in the University in April.

Mr. Coffey played guard two successive years on championship basketball teams.
Ralph and Esther applied for a marriage license on 2 May 1921 in Jackson Co., MO.²⁷⁶⁰⁹ They²⁷⁶⁰⁹ were married on 4 May 1921 in Kansas City, Jackson Co., MO.²⁷⁶¹⁰ They²⁷⁶¹⁰ appeared in the census on 15 April 1930 in Kansas City, Jackson Co., MO.²⁷⁶¹¹ Ralph and Esther²⁷⁶¹¹ were divorced circa 1936. Esther Alida Robertson, daughter of J. Archie Robertson, was born on 11 September 1898 in Slater, Saline Co., MO. Esther died on 5 July 1982 at the age of 83 in Kansas City, Jackson Co., MO and was buried at Mount Washington Cemetery in Independence, Jackson Co., MO.²⁷⁶¹²

Dr. Ralph Ringo Coffey and Esther Alida Robertson had the following children:

Dr. Ralph Ringo Coffey and Ara Saunders were married circa 1937. Ara Saunders was born on 10 October 1908 in Grapevine, Tarrant Co., TX. Ara died of heart failure on 16 February 1969 at the age of 60 the at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Olmsted Co., MN and was buried at

Dr. Ralph Ringo Coffey and Lucia Benton were married in December 1969 in Hawaii. Lucia Benton was born on 15 August 1915 in Norton, Norton Co., KS.

As of May 16, 2010, Lucia was still living and residing in Texas. Lucia died in Katy, Harris Co., TX on 27 January 2013. Mount Moriah Cemetery in Kansas City, Jackson Co., MO on 31 January 2013 .^27613,27614

Obituary, The Kansas City Star, Kansas City, MO, Jan. 20, 2013

Lucia Benton Coffey passed away peacefully at age 97 at her home in Katy, Texas, attended by loving family, January 27, 2013.

She was born in Oberlin, KS on August 15, 1915, and grew up in Norton, Norton County, Kansas. She was the daughter of Floyd E. and Mary Leona (Miller) Benton, and the twin sister of Leona Mabel Benton Ward, who predeceased her, as did two other sisters, Maxine Benton Myers and Rosalie Benton Muir.

In 1939, Lucia married James Eugene (Gene) Irwin, and they moved to Kansas City where she spent most of her life. Gene Irwin was the Chief Engineer of List & Clark Construction Company of Kansas City, and died in 1963 at age 56. Their two children are Gary E. Irwin of Moraga, California and Anna Lee (Mrs. Kenneth R.) Burton of Katy, Texas. She also is survived by five grandsons; Darren and Ryan Irwin, and Mark, Cory, and Scott Burton; and ten great- grandchildren.

After being widowed in 1963, Lucia married Dr. Ralph R. Coffey of Kansas City in 1969. She was predeceased by Dr. Coffey in 1984, and later by Dr. Coffey's daughter Annette (Coffey) Walker of Clinton, Missouri. She is survived by his grandchildren Martha Walker (Mrs. Arlie) Johnson of Overland Park, Kansas and Mike Walker of Miami, Florida, and great-grandchildren Ryan Johnson and Erin Johnson Weber.

Lucia was active in P.E.O., with more than 50 years of service, and she endowed a P.E.O. scholarship at Cottey College in Nevada, Missouri. She was a long-time member of Country Club Methodist Church, and was a supporter of the Richard Cabot Foundation of Kansas City and the Kansas City chapter of the American Red Cross.

Lucia is a descendant of a settler at Jamestown Colony, and is a descendant of six signers of the Mayflower Compact. She was selected as Miss Kansas in 1936, and was a finalist in the Miss America Pageant of 1937 in Atlantic City, NJ.

Lucia was a beloved mother, grandmother, and friend. She truly was "Great Lucia", as her great- grandchildren called her. Services will be held on Thursday, January 31 at the Country Club United Methodist Church, 55th and Wornall Road; visitation with family members will be from 10 to 11 am, with funeral services starting at 11 am, and a graveside service immediately afterward at Mt. Moriah Cemetery in Kansas City.

Memorial donations in lieu of flowers may be made to the Lucia B. Coffey Scholarship Fund, PEO Executive Office, 3700 Grand Avenue, Des Moines IA 50312.

Mt Moriah & Freeman Funeral Home. 10507 Holmes Rd., Kansas City, MO 64131. (816) 942-2004 www.mtmoriah-freeman.com