ARTHUR LAVONN COFFEY SR.

A Celebration of Life for Arthur Lavonn Coffey Sr., 80, will be April 9, 2010, at 4 p.m. at Alaskan Heritage Memorial Chapel, 1015 S. Check St. in Wasilla with Rev. Dan Grisham officiating. Burial of Arthur’s cremated remains will be at a later date at White House Cemetery in Lufkin, Texas, next to his wife.

Arthur died April 6 at his Palmer residence. He was born in Diboll, Texas, on Nov. 10, 1929, and came to Alaska in 1999. Arthur was a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and also a graduate from George Washington University. He was retired from the Navy after serving in World War II and the Korean War. After the Navy he worked for American Color Graphics and retired from them in 1992 in Lufkin.

Arthur was a member of the VFW Post 1836 in Lufkin and also Mothers Against Drunk Drivers. He was an avid outdoorsman and loved to hike, ride bicycles, canoe and bird watch. According to his family, “A wonderful American, father and grandfather has passed. We were blessed to know him.”

Arthur was preceded in death by his wife, Clara Coffey; son, Arthur L. Coffey Jr.; grandson, Zach Posey; parents, George and Nora Coffey; and brother, Reginald Coffey.

Arthur is survived by his daughter, Theresa Coffey-Posey from Palmer; two sisters, Muriel Parker and Valeria Oaks, both of Hudson, Texas; grandson, Scott Posey, of Wasilla; three granddaughters, Jennifer Coffey of Wasilla, Lindsey Posey of Palmer and Tiffany Stephens of Lufkin; and seven great-grandchildren.

Service arrangements by Alaskan Heritage Memorial Chapel & Crematory, Wasilla Chapel, akheritage.com.