Joan S. Coffey

Joan Coffey, aged 91, passed away peacefully on August 2, 2019 at her home, the Mountain Vista Senior Living Community in Wheat Ridge, CO.

Joan Swink Coffey was born October 15, 1927 in Huntington, West Virginia to Frank and Kathleen Swink. Joan grew up in Morgantown, WVA, graduated from Morgantown High School and then West Virginia University where she met her future husband, James Gerard (Jim) Coffey. At WVU she was a proud member of Alpha Xi Delta sorority.

Joan moved to New York City in 1950 and attended the Barbizon School and enjoyed a successful career in fashion modeling and clothing sales. Joan married Jim Coffey in 1951 and moved to Westchester County thereafter.

Joan and Jim lived in Chappaqua, New York for many years where they raised their three children. The family were founding members of the Community of the Reconciliation (United Presbyterian). Joan was later a longtime member of the Union Church of Pocantico Hills. Joan worked for many years as a teacher's aide at Douglas G. Grafflin School in Chappaqua where she made lifelong friends.

Joan was an avid traveler, hiker and lover of the outdoors and nature. She was a longtime supporter and member of the Board of Directors of Saw Mill Audubon. Joan was an expert with wildflowers and birds and known for her love of her many Siamese cats, including Latte, her loyal companion in recent years. Hikes throughout Westchester County, particularly Teatown Lake Reservation and the Rockefeller State Preserve were her favorites.

She is predeceased by her parents, her brother Nelson Swink, and her husband of 46 years, Jim Coffey. She is survived by her sister, Andrea Warwick of Laurel, MD; son James G. Coffey, Jr. (Jerry) and his wife Karen of Medford, MA; son Mark A. Coffey and his wife Jean of Aliso Viejo, CA; daughter Carolyn Coffey and her husband Robert Jordan of Evergreen, CO; grandchildren Casey Spicer (Tom), Benjamin Coffey (Rose), Emily Daniel (Jeffrey) and Andrew Coffey; great grandchildren Christopher and Benjamin Spicer, June Coffey and Abigail Daniel; and many nieces and nephews.

Donations in memory of Joan's life may be made to Best Friends Animal Society http://support.bestfriends.org/goto/joancoffey and/or Teatown Lake Reservation www.teatown.org.

A celebration of Joan's life is being planned this month at Mountain Vista Assisted Living and at a later date in Westchester County, New York.