Bonnie Marie Coffey, 97
Funeral services for Bonnie Marie Coffey, 97, of Gainesville, were held July 31, 2021, at Clinkingbeard Funeral Home in Gainesville with Pastor Bruce DeWeese officiating. Mrs. Coffey died Wednesday, July 28, at Gainesville Health Care Center.
She was born March 14, 1924, in Pontiac, one of eight children born to James Eber and Bessie Schofield Long. On Dec. 10, 1940, in Reno, Nevada, she married Basil Edward Coffey. As a young married couple, they moved to California, where they lived for about four years before returning to the Ozarks and buying a farm in Oakland, Arkansas. The farm was part of the land obtained by the U.S. Army Corps for the Bull Shoals Lake project in the 1940s and 50s. After the lake filled in, the Coffeys bought a farm in Pontiac, where they raised their family.
As a young woman, Mrs. Coffey worked at the shirt factory In Cotter, Arkansas. Later, she started a career at Baxter Healthcare in Mountain Home and went on to retire from there.
She was a member of Frontier Baptist Church in Pontiac and was an active volunteer for years at the Ozark County Senior Center in Gainesville. She had many friends in the community and often showed her love by delivering homemade baked goods to them. She had a wonderful sense of humor and a competitive streak. Her favorite evenings were spent playing a good game of cards with friends and family. She was a hard worker all her life and loved being outdoors. She could outfish and outhunt most men. She raised a huge garden most summers of her life and could cook a meal for a crowd of friends and family at the drop of a hat. She liked to stay busy and was always looking for ways she could help.
Mrs. Coffey is survived by her two daughters, Lorene Loftis of Gainesville and Louise Taylor and husband Mike of Buffalo; one son, Jim Coffey and wife Cheryl of Calico Rock, Arkansas; grandchildren Norene Prososki and husband Tim of Protem, Tammie Loftis and fiancé Layne Nance of Wasola, Annette Murphy and husband Steve of Rogersville, Ron Taylor and wife Carla of Marshfield, and Erin Owens and husband Jason of Calico Rock, Arkansas; great-grandchildren Jessica Workman and husband Aaron, Jennifer Yarger and husband Zack, Amanda Loftis, John Prososki and wife Terra, Kristy Chaney, Cody Chaney, Cole Engles, Riley Stapleton and wife Baylee, and Zoie Stapleton; great-great-grandchildren Allison, Julissa, Kinsley, Zeke, Ezra, Isabelle, Bonnie Mae, Kylar, Kanyon, Calla and Aarow; her sister, Wilma Mitchell of Alaska and brother Wesley Long and his wife Cindy of Oroville, California.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Basil; her brothers, Charlie, Walter, Clifford, Tilford and Willard Long; and her son-in-law, Delmar Loftis.
Burial was in the Pontiac Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to Pontiac Cemetery. Online condolences may be expressed at clinkingbeardfuneralhome.com.
Arrangements by Clinkingbeard Funeral Home, Gainesville.