Henry Columbus & Ruth Annie Carter Coffey

Henry was born in North Carolina on Oct. 23, 1903 to Thomas Franklin and Mary Kathryn Lingafelt Coffey.  He died in Hickory, Catawba Co. on Jul. 18, 1949 and was buried at Pinecrest Cemetery in Granite Falls, Caldwell Co.

Ruth Annie was a daughter of Robert Alexander "Bob" and Mary Martha "Mollie" Cooper Carter.  She was born Dec. 3, 1904 in Caldwell Co., and died in Granite Falls on Dec. 9, 1994.  Ruth is likely buried at Pinecrest as well, but I have not found any evidence.

Bob Carter was born Jul. 26, 1882 in Watauga Co., NC and died Jan. 27, 1958 in Granite Falls.  Mollie was born in North Carolina on Sep. 11, 1886 and died in Granite Falls on May 9, 1918.  Her death certificate reveals only that she was buried at Granite Falls.  On Nov. 1, 1919 Bob married Carrie Mae Hayes, born Aug. 16, 1882 in NC, died May 18, 1972 at Kenansville in Duplin Co., NC and was buried in Warsaw, Duplin Co. at Devotional Gardens.  Her parents were J. Robert and Caroline Neal Hayes.

Henry and Ruth were married on Jul. 2, 1921* in Lovelady Twp., Caldwell Co. and were the parents of at least eight children:

Annie May, born Mar., 1922 in Caldwell Co., died on Jan. 4, 2009 in Seattle, King Co., WA.  Her husband was Kenneth Jefferson Holverstoot, born Oct. 5, 1924 in OR, died in Seattle on Oct. 6, 1982.  He and Annie were married in King Co. on Apr. 29, 1950.**

Lois, born 1923 in Caldwell Co.  No further information.

Van, born 1927 in Caldwell Co.  No further information.

Marylyn Coffey Franklin Obituary Photo

Marilyn Miller, born Jun. 30, 1928 in Caldwell Co., died Aug. 23, 2011 in Lenoir, Caldwell Co.  Her husband was George Jennings Franklin, born Jul. 16, 1924 in NC, died May 28, 1984 in Statesville, Iredell Co., NC.

Obituary, Mackie-High Funeral Home,  On-line , Aug., 2011

Marilyn Miller Coffey Franklin
Hudson – Mrs. Marilyn Coffey Franklin, 83, of Hudson, NC, went home to be with our Lord, Tuesday, August 23, 2011 at Caldwell County Hospice and Palliative Care of Lenoir.

Mrs. Franklin was born June 30, 1928 in Caldwell County, N.C. to the late Henry C, Coffey and Ruth Carter Coffey.

In addition to her parents she was preceded in death by her husband of 40 years, George Jennings. Franklin, a sister, Mae Holverstott, of Seattle, Washington, two brothers; Harold Coffey of Granite Falls and Bill Coffey of Rutherford College. She is survived by four sons; George A. Franklin and his wife Becky Newton, NC, Richard Franklin and his wife Aileen from Raleigh, NC, Audie Franklin and his wife Judy from Statesville, NC, and Fabian Franklin of Hudson, NC. Four daughters; Diane Carswell and her husband Gene of Valdese, NC, Kay Geouge and her husband Dennis of Lenoir, NC, Doris Sigmon and Gale Franklin, both from Lenoir, NC. Two brothers; Gary Coffey of Rhodhiss and Van Coffey of Alexander County. Two sisters; Lois Coffey of Burke County and Frances Underwood of Davie County. In addition to her children, she is survived by 13 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
The funeral service will be held Friday, August 26, 2011 at 2:00 p.m. at Mackie High Chapel, with the Rev. Mike Isaacs officiating. Burial will follow at Center Grove Baptist Church in Hudson, NC. The family will receive friends on Thursday, August 25, 2011 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Mackie High Chapel.

Serving as pallbearers will be Cody Conner, Damon Hood, Jeff Carswell, and Marty Mooney.

The Family would like to thank Caldwell Hospice and Palliative Care of Lenoir, NC Nurses and Staff for all the love and care for our family through this difficult time. A special thanks to Kelly Mitchell, BSW.
Mackie-High Funeral Home is serving the family.

Harold Thomas, born Dec. 5, 1929, died Mar. 23, 2001 at Valdese in Burke Co.  Harold never married.

Gary Cooper, born 1934 in Caldwell Co., married Jeanetta J. Garnett.

Frances Irene, born 1937 in Caldwell Co.  No further information.

Billy Joe, born Mar. 2, 1940 at Granite Falls, died May 2, 2010 in Valdese.

VALDESE - Mr. Billy Joe Coffey, 70, of Rutherford College, died Sunday, May 2, 2010, at Burke Hospice and Palliative Care Center, Valdese, after a period of declining health.

Mr. Coffey was born March 2, 1940, in Granite Falls, a son of the late Henry and Ruth Carter Coffey. He was a faithful member of Abernethy Memorial United Methodist Church. Bill was famous for his cooking chicken pie, barbecue and fish fries. He loved his family; to garden and share his vegetables with his friends and family; to fish and his time at the beach; and especially to make people laugh. Bill retired from General Electric in Hickory and worked part time for 17 years as a cook at Valdese General Hospital. After retirement, he worked part-time at Westpoint Stevens in Hickory.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by a brother, Harold Coffey; and a sister, Mae Holverstott.

Surviving are his wife of more than 48 years, Lillian Rutherford Coffey of the home; a daughter, Kellie Coffey Clay of Morganton; two sons, Neal Coffey and wife, Holly, of the George Hildebrand community and Mark Coffey and wife, Angela, of Morganton; brothers, Gary Coffey and wife, Joan, of Rhodhiss, Van Coffey and wife, Ginger, of Taylorsville; sisters, Frances Underwood of Mocksville, Lois Coffey of Valdese and Marilyn Franklin of Hudson. Also surviving are his grandchildren, Jordan and Bryant Clay, Whitney, Zachary and Mason Coffey, Sydney Coffey; and a number of nieces and nephews.

A service of remembrance will be held at 5 p.m. Monday, May 10, 2010, at Abernethy Memorial United Methodist Church, with the Rev. Sally Queen officiating. The family will receive friends from 3:30 until 5 p.m. Monday at Abernethy Memorial United Methodist Church. Memorials may be made to ACE & TJ's Grin Kids, P.O. Box 37192, Charlotte, N.C. 28237; or Wrights Pantry in care of Abernethy Memorial UMC, P.O. Box 127, Rutherford College N.C. 28671; or Burke Hospice and Palliative Care, 1721 Enon Road, Valdese, N.C. 28690 An online guest book and obituary notice are available at www.heritagefuneralservice.com. Heritage Funeral Service and Crematory is assisting the Coffey family.

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*North Carolina County Marriages, 1759-1979 , digital images, FamilySearch.Org (www.familysearch.org).
**"All Record Series." Transcription. Washington Secretary of State, Washington State Digital Archives. http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/ : 2010.

Joel & Martha Sealey Stapp Coffey

I received the following a couple of days ago from James Scott of Logansville, GA:

I have the complete family of Joel & Martha Sealey Stapp Coffey, all the 9 children and all the grand children and some of te [sic] [the] great grand children 53 pages in all, if you or any one you may know wants a copy it is $20 in book form. The next brother Salathiel & Elizabeth Franklin Coffey, and all 11 of their children and grand children & great grand children, and most of their children has large families, the price will be 25¢ a sheet. Also I have all of Isaiah Neburzarden & Elizabeth Hayes's family, with children & grandchildren and great grand children, they had 9 children. The 25¢ cost covers copy cost, postage, & the book form.

If anyone would like to communicate about this with James, drop me a note and I'll send his contact information.

Capt. Loy Grady Coffey, USAAF WWII

Capt. Loy Grady Coffee

I too had an uncle that perished serving his country during WWII.  My father Frank H. (USAAF) and another of his brothers, Harry D. (USCG) also served but returned safely.

This uncle was the youngest of four sons born to my grandfather, Albert Lilburn Coffey and his wife, Ora Elizabeth Braley.  Loy was born on Jul. 27, 1917 in De Ann, Hempstead Co., AR and died on Dec. 30, 1944 over Ellis Co., KS.

He was a bombardier instructor aboard a B-29 bomber out of the 2d Air Force, 17th Wing stationed at Walker Army Air Force Base in Hays, KS.  On the morning of Dec. 30, the B-29, piloted by 1st Lt. Rufus C. Anderson took off on a training run.  In addition to Capt. Coffey, others on board were 2d Lt. Glenn V. Welander, F/O Thomas H. Joyce; 2nd Lt. Stanley M. Franklin; Sgt. Dale M. Thompson; Pfc. William R. Fierini; Cpl. Robert F. Rich; Cpl. Richard R. Berg; Pfc. Nicholas G. Brando; Pfc. Kenneth L. Bryant; Cpl. Harry Bochichio and 2nd Lt. Verne E. Roycraft.  All but Berg, Brando and Roycraft were killed.  One of the survivors may have ultimately died from injuries.  A news article reported that one of the men was not expected to survive, but did not name him.

According to reports, the bomber climbed to about 25,000 feet and was proceeding on course when at about 10:20 a.m. the number 3 engine [ironic the same engine number as on the B-24 in previous blog] backfired and erupted in flames.  Extinguishers were activated but within a short time the engine caught fire again and burned more fiercely. The extinguishers were again activated but were ineffective.

A subsequent investigation revealed that the fuel line had ruptured and a steady flow of gas to the engine was fueling the fire.  The engine eventually exploded causing the plane to lose the left wing.  It began an uncontrollable spin and cartwheeled to the earth.  The crew lost their oxygen equipment and in the chaos men were bouncing around in the plane, unable to physically jump out.

Lt. Anderson had earlier alerted the crew to prepare for a jump.  Capt. Coffee, the navigator and the radio operator began to move towards the bomb bay with the radio operator attempting to help Coffee strap on his parachute.  The next time a survivor saw Coffee he was lying on the bomb bay door and had a deep gash on the top rear of his head.

Headstone for Capt. Loy Grady Coffey

Some of the men fell to earth while still inside the plane and their bodies were burned.  Capt. Coffee was fortunate in that he somehow fell free of the plane and his body was not burned.  He was returned to his then hometown of Minden, in Webster Parish, LA where he was buried with military honors in the Minden City Cemetery.

Capt. Coffey enlisted when he was six months shy of receiving a law degree from Louisiana State University.  He was also an ROTC cadet and had received some prior National Guard training.  Upon enlistment he was sent to Midland [Texas] Army Flying School where he began the second class of bombardier training.  Graduates were known as "Hell from Heaven Men" and "the most dangerous men in the world."  Following graduation he was commissioned an officer in the US Army.

He married Miss Martha Easley of Harlingen, TX in March, 1943 and she had been with him since their marriage.   I have often searched for Martha with no success.  Undoubtedly, she remarried and had children and, it would be nice to know more about her life after the death of Capt. Coffee.

The grainy photo was retrieved from a newspaper article of the day announcing his death and is the best that I have of him.  He was a handsome man; probably the best looking of all his brothers.

Within the last year, a contact and local historian in Hays discovered the bomb bay door in a barn owned by a local farmer.  He removed a small piece and sent it to me as a keepsake.  I will be forever grateful.




No. 991