Mabel Coffey

Waynesville-Mabel Alberta Coffey was born December 6, 1914 in Bryson City, NC to Rufus Gamewell Coffey and Minnie Welch Coffey. Her grandparents were Mr. and Mrs. F.P Coffey and Dr. and Mrs. J.E.T. Welch. She graduated in 1935 from Mars Hill College, Mars Hill, NC and in 1937 from Carson Newman College, Jefferson City, TN with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. Since 1938 she and her sisters, Helene and Ruth, operated Waynesville Hardware Company in Waynesville. Miss Coffey had a heart for poetry all her life; Her poems have been printed in numerous publications through the years. In 1994, with the help of Dr. Cordell Maddox, President of Carson Newman College, a collection of her poetry was published under the title "Beyond The Mountains". In the introduction to the book, Miss Coffey summarized the philosophy of her life when she wrote "of those whose hopes and aspirations transcend the highest peaks and venture on to heaven it can truly be said; they see beyond the mountains." She was preceded in death by three brothers; J.C Coffey, Roby Elbert Coffey and Rufus Gamewell Coffey, Jr., and one sister, Dora Helene Coffey, she is survived by one sister; Nellie Ruth Coffey Rogers, and one brother Lyle Welch Coffey, all of Waynesville and several nieces and nephews. Funeral services will at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, January 4, 2006 in the Waynesville Chapel of Wells Funeral Home. Clayton Davis and Steve C. Davis will be officiating. Burial will follow at Bryson City Cemetery at 1:00 p.m. Memorials may be made to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, 1 Billy Graham Parkway, Charlotte, NC 28201.