Ida Virginia Coffey's Obituary
Ida was born March 29, 1929 to loving parents, Claudius Lester and Essie Crawford in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands where she lived for the first 13 years of her life. Raised as an only child, she later lived in Panama before moving to the United States in her teens.She attended San Diego High where her interests included art, photography and sports.Ida excelled in tennis and basketball until doctors identified a physical defect that prematurely ended her athletic career.After graduating from San Diego High, Ida was accepted to the San Francisco Institute of Art where she studied multiple art disciplines.While riding the San Francisco city bus to her classes, she met her first husband, Winston Sherrard Sr.Ida and Winston Sr. lived in the Filmore district of San Francisco. During their union, Ida gave birth, first to son Winston Jr. then a year later to son Michael.After several years in San Francisco, Ida and her two sons moved back to San Diego to live at her parents’ home in Logan Heights. With the support of her parents, Ida went to work for the county of San Diego as a court clerk.While in San Diego, Ida met Austin Nathaniel Coffey, who at the time was a young electronics specialist at North Island Naval Station. Austin also had an MG sports car and a Cadillac, which didn’t hurt matters.On July 29, 1961 Ida married Austin Nathaniel Coffey. At Austin’s urging, Ida stopped working to become not only a wife and mother, but essentially, the home manager.Ida and Austin moved out of Ida’s parents’ home with sons Winston and Michael to their first house on San Miguel St.The family later moved to Churchward St in Valencia Park and Ida gave birth to her third son Lawrence.Years later, Ida would eventually return to college and graduate from San Diego State University with a B.A. in Art.Ida was a member of the San Diego artist community for over 25 years, specializing in abstract paintings. Initially, she shared the Studio 15 gallery in the Spanish Village section of Balboa Park. From there, she moved to a gallery in Mission Beach, then finished her art career at the Mixed Media Gallery in the Webster community of San Diego.Ida was a devoted wife and mother. She was completely selfless, always considering the needs of her family. She exemplified grace and class at all times. She was tactful and knew how to alter her approach depending upon the setting.Ida was very perceptive in dealing with her husband. She understood Austin’s personality better than he did. Her home was a well-functioning environment. Ida and Austin remained married until Austin’s passing in 2010.Ida stood firm on her Christian faith and values and had strong convictions. She had no problem taking a firm position on any issue.Although Ida appeared to be soft spoken and unassuming at times, she possessed an inner toughness equal to Austin’s. She raised her sons to care for others yet at the same time, take no mess from anyone. Ida had a fighting spirit, which became abundantly evident as she battled through various health challenges in her senior years.From elementary school to high school, Ida was involved with all of her boys’ activities. Academic projects, parent/teacher meetings, parent/counselor meetings, driving to practices and games, team mom responsibilities, etc….She often mentioned that she was glad to have all boys.Although Ida lived in San Diego, San Francisco remained as one of her favorite cities due to the arts and style culture. She always encouraged her sons to explore Los Angeles and the Bay Area for diversity.Ida was very diverse in her interests. She loved information and was constantly reading material on a variety of subjects.If Ida wasn’t watching sports on television, she enjoyed architecture, home development, science, cooking shows and law enforcement dramas.In the 70’s and 80’s, Ida and Austin enjoyed watching all of the popular television police and detective dramas: Mannix, Streets of San Francisco, Starsky and Hutch and Baretta. Later it was, Hill Street Blues and NYPD Blue. Finally, Law and Order, NCIS and Person of Interest.A dedicated football fan since her high school years, Ida was always with Austin and the boys at football games. From the old Balboa Stadium to games at Qualcomm Stadium in later years. Ida was a lover of multiple music genres. Her collection consisted of classical, traditional jazz, modern jazz, and R&B. Ida and Austin were at the Playboy Jazz Festival every year in addition to attending other musical events.Ida will be missed by all that knew her. She was preceded in death by both of her parents, her husband, Austin and her son, Michael.She is survived by her sons, Winston and Lawrence, her grandson, Grant and other extended family and friends.
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