Clifton Simpson Coffman Jr.

On Friday, January 15, Myra Wanda Coffman will say goodbye to her husband and lifetime companion, Clifton Simpson Coffman, Jr., 95, who died peacefully in their home on Monday, January 11, 2010. A celebration of Clifton’s life begins at 10:00 a.m. Friday at first Baptist Church of Huntsville, officiated by Reverend Carroll Williams, followed by burial at the Mayes Addition of Oakwood Cemetery, Huntsville. Visitation with family and friends will be on Thursday evening, January 14, from 5-7 p.m. at Sam Houston Memorial Funeral Home, 1700 Normal Park Dr., Huntsville. Clifton was born on October 10, 1914, in Lewisburg, West Virginia to Dr. Clifton S. Coffman and Eunice Neel Coffman. He pursued a career in forestry after attending West Virginia University and earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Michigan in 1937. By 1940, he was working for the Soil Conservation Service in Nacogdoches, Texas, which he called “the most important position I held because I met my wife there.” Clifton and Myra were married on November 25, 1942, beginning a 68 year partnership and marriage. World War II interrupted Clifton’s forestry career, as it did the careers of so many members of the “Greatest Generation.” Following Officer’s Candidate School, he spent most of his service with the 77th Infantry Division in the Pacific theater. In a 1998 letter to Clifton, one of his platoon members, Art Bachman, praised his leadership saying, “you treated me and the rest of the squads with respect and not as underlings. You were a gentleman.” Upon his discharge from the Army in 1946, Clifton returned to Texas. As the forester for the Texas Longleaf Lumber company in Trinity, Clifton joined members of a pioneering group: the first “modern-day” industry foresters in East Texas. Champion Paper Company and Southland Paper Mills bought out the Texas Longleaf Lumber Company in the early 1950’s, and during a two year transition period, Clifton was the forester for both companies, eventually going with Champion. In 1967, Champion selected Clifton to organize and manage 500,000 acres of timberland in Alabama and Tennessee. He and Myra moved with their youngest child, Nan, to Alabama, where he finished out his career, retiring, along with Myra, in 1980. A member of the Society of American Foresters since 1938, Clifton remained a member until his death. He was also a lifelong member of the Texas Forestry Association, as well as a Rotarian. Returning to their longtime home in Huntsville, Texas, Clifton and Myra enjoyed retirement with world travel, reading, gardening, and playing bridge with friends. They were active members of First Baptist Church of Huntsville, where Clifton was a trustee and taught Sunday School as he did at all churches he attended. Clifton and Myra’s three children, Dr. Clif (“Bill”) Coffman, III, of Shreveport, Louisiana, Charles Coffman, of Santa Fe, New Mexico and Nan Coffman, of Houston, are a source of continuous pride, as is their grandson, Dana Clay Coffman, of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Clifton will also be missed by Clif’s wife Dianne and children, Jonathan and Julie; sister Nancy Addison, nieces Carol McKeever, Judith Rayback, and Gail Guss; sister-in-law Dr. Ethelaura Ramey, nephew Richard Ramey and wife Karen and niece Pat Ramey, as well as special friends Craig Moore, Kathy Partin, Wendell Floyd, Jane and Jimmy Mallery, Jere and Robert McCann, Connie and Bob Parker, and Susan and Wes Sanders. The family extends a sincere thank-you to Clifton’s devoted caregivers Juanita McKinney, Mae Ennis, Cynthia Archie, Helen Jackson, and Willie Mae Mundy. Those wishing to leave memorial condolences for the family may do so at www.shmfh.com

Clifton Simpson Coffman Jr.

October 10, 1914 - January 15, 2010