Ninth Generation

14414. William Mansell (J.?) "Bill" Coffee was born on 17 August 1909 in Texas. William died in Los Angeles Co., CA on 29 October 1981 and was buried at East Kern Cemetery in Mojave, Kern Co., CA in November 1981 .³⁹⁶⁵⁹

William Mansell (J.?) "Bill" Coffee and Esta O'Dell Mullins were married in 1935 in Texas. Esta O'Dell Mullins, daughter of Ira Sidney Mullins and Surilda Brite, was born on 29 May 1912 in Alvord, Wise Co., TX. Esta died in Bakersfield, Kern Co., CA on 12 September 2000 and was buried at East Kern Cemetery in Mojave, Kern Co., CA on 15 September 2000 .³⁹⁶⁶⁰ Active in Mojave for many years,

BY BILL DEAVER

MOJAVE: Esta O'Dell Coffee was laid to rest in a graveside ceremony at Mojave Cemetery September 15.

Mrs. Coffee and her husband Bill moved to Mojave in 1955, purchasing a jewelry store at K and Inyo streets from Charles Spicer.

The couple operated Mojave Jewelers for many years. O'Dell was also well-known in Mojave as the "Avon Lady," selling Avon products to residents for 15 years.

The Coffees were active members of Mojave's First Southern Baptist Church in Mojave. They donated the drapes for the church when a new sanctuary was built in the mid-1970's.

O'Dell was also an active member of a "Bunko" club and counted her fellow players among her dearest friends.

Esta O'Dell Coffee was born May 29, 1912 to Sidney and Surilda Mullins in Alvord, Texas, the second of three girls.

She graduated from Panhandle High School in 1930 and attended Canyon College in Canyon, Texas for two years.

The Coffees were married in 1935. Bill managed a B.F. Goodrich store in Wichita Falls, Texas, where the couple lived until the beginning of World War II.
Bill, who passed away in 1981, served in the Seabees in the South Pacific during the war. O'Dell worked in the post office in San Pedro.

The couple's only child, son Gerald, a Sergeant in the Kern County Sheriffs Department, was born in 1946.

Following the war, Bill worked as a watchmaker in Amarillo, Texas. The Coffees moved to Bishop in 1952 where Bill worked at Bishop Jewelers before moving to Mojave in 1955.

O'Dell lived in Mojave until 1992. She was living in Bakersfield at the time of her death on September 12.

O'Dell is survived by son Gerry of Bakersfield, grandchildren, Amy Erickson of Port Allsworth, Alaska, and Cleveland Coffee of Bakersfield, and two great-grandchildren, Chloe and Trule Erickson.

Arrangements were handled by Davis Funeral Home of McFarland.

William Mansell (J.?) "Bill" Coffee and Esta O'Dell Mullins had the following children: