Mark Edward Coffey

Mark Edward Coffey was born on September 18, 1948, in Portland Oregon. He lived his life as the youngest of 3 boys in SE Portland and lived in the Portland area his entire life. After graduating from Cleveland high school in 1966 he joined the Army Reserves and worked at Gunderson. At some point, Mark found a love for music and spent some time performing in nightclubs around Portland with his band “Zucchini Trifusion” (Mark hated Zucchini!). He will be remembered as THE DRUMMER! Mark graduated from Portland State University with a bachelor's in history and a teaching certificate in 1974. Mark decided teaching high school wasn’t his thing and knew he needed a career. He left the nightclub world and joined the Portland Police department in 1973. He met his wife, Wanda Mattson, and they married in 1975. Mark spent 25.5 years in law enforcement, 15 years as a detective specializing in senior citizen fraud. He was show cased on many local news reports for his work with seniors, assisted writing books and college material with Investigative Reporter Chuck Whitlock, who became a longtime friend. Mark also got to attend the Oprah show with Chuck but unfortunately his interview was edited out of the episode. He also stayed very close with his Detective partner, Peter. He loved a good cigar daily.

Mark was loved by so many.

Mark died on November 7th, at Kaiser Hospital in Clackamas, Oregon due to complications of Alzheimer's. He is survived by his wife of 47 years, daughter Kelsey, 37, daughter Destiny, 21 and Destiny’s fiancé, JD, his favorite dog “yoyo”, many nieces and nephews who had been like children to him for much of his life, as well as his brothers, Curt and Craig Coffey. But his pride and joy and who he still remembered until the day he died is his one and only granddaughter, Emma Grace. Pappa will always love you, Emma Grace.

A memorial service for Mark will be held on Monday, December 19 at 1 pm at Rivercrest Community Church, 3201 NE 148th Ave, Portland, OR 97230. In lieu of flowers, the family would be grateful for donations in his memory to either the Alzheimer's Association or the Portland Sunshine Division.