Russell Coffey
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| John Russell Coffey | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 1, 1898 (age 108) Crawford County, Ohio |
John Russell Coffey (born September 1, 1898) is one of the last American veterans of the First World War.
Born in Crawford County, Ohio, he enlisted in the United States Army in October 1918, about a month before the armistice was signed. Coffey was a student at The College of Wooster, living in Creston and taking a streetcar to Akron, where he worked in a rubber factory to pay his tuition. Two older brothers already were serving overseas, and he never shipped out. Russell was honorably discharged that same December. Coffey met his future wife, Bernice, in Creston. She lived a street away, and they courted from about the time of his Army discharge until their marriage in 1922. Their only child, Betty Jo, was born in 1923. Now 83, she is his only immediate relative still living. Russell currently lives in North Baltimore aged 108.
In June 2005, Coffey visited the Buckeye Boys State program at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, where he inspired those in attendance.
By late March 2007, Mr. Coffey was one of the last the three American WWI veterans, as well as the oldest of them.
