Eugene Lockwood Coffee
Eugene (Gene) Lockwood Coffee, 83, of Wofford Heights, Calif., died on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2014. Graveside services were held at 10:45 a.m., Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2014 at Bakersfield National Cemetery in Arvin, Calif., with a small reception following.
Coffee was born on Dec. 20, 1930 in East Alton, Ill., to Lockwood and Velva Coffee and moved to Texas at the age of four months with his parents and older sister, Marilyn. Raised outside of Vernon, Coffee graduated from Northside High School in 1948. He married Betty Clark of Odell in March of 1953. He had joined the United States Navy in 1950 and served honorable until June of 1954.
Coffee worked his entire career in the field of aviation mechanics, retiring in 1994 from Northrop as the supervisor lead crew chief on the B-2 programs. He and his wife lived in Palmdale, Calif., until moving to Wofford Heights, Calif., 10 years ago.
He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Betty Coffee; two daughters, Twila Ingram of San Diego and Terri Jennings of Tehachapi; a son, Kevin Coffee of Los Angeles; eight grandchildren, six great-grandchildren, and one sister, Marilyn King of Vernon.