Robert L. Coffey

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Robert Lewis Coffey, Jr. (October 21, 1918–April 20, 1949) was a Democrat member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.

Robert Coffey was born in Chattanooga, TN, and moved with his parents in early boyhood to Pennsylvania. He attended the University of Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania State University. He was employed in coal mines in all positions from coal loader to engineer. He served in the United States Army Air Force during the Second World War. He was the military air attaché for the United States Embassy in Santiago, Chile, from October 1945 to April 1948. He resigned his commission as a lieutenant colonel to pursue a political candidacy. He was commissioned a colonel in the Air Force Reserve. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, Purple Heart, Bronze Star, Presidential Citation, and Belgian and French Croix de Guerre.

He was elected as a Democrat to the 81st Congress and served from January 3, 1949, until his death in an airplane accident in Albuquerque, NM. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.


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Preceded by
Harve Tibbott
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 26th congressional district

1949
Succeeded by
John P. Saylor