Michael Lee Coffer, owner of MCL Services and co-owner of Coffer Creative Weddings, died Jan. 26, 2011, at his home in Eagle River.
A service will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday at St. Andrew Catholic Church in Eagle River, with a viewing from noon to 2 p.m. A potluck celebration of life will be afterward in the banquet room of the River City Saloon in Eagle River.
Mike was born Aug. 6, 1954, in California. He had been a resident of Eagle River since 1990, when the Army moved him there. His first time in Alaska was in 1982 for Arctic training and he fell in love with the state. He retired from the Army in 1994.
Mike was the cook for Issac Waltons before working with the Alaska Military Youth Academy, where he had been for several years.
In 1977, Mike married Sue and together they had five children.
He started MCL Services in 2004 for snowplowing and landscaping.
He loved riding his Harley, which his wife bought him for his 54th birthday. He also enjoyed fishing, hunting, camping, snowmachining and family time.
Friends said that "to sum him up would be the word 'love.' He would show love no matter what. He was a man of his word."
He is survived by his wife of 33 years, Sue; son, Michael II and his wife Katie of Peters Creek; daughters, Melissa Gillespie and husband Tommy of Fort Richardson, and Meggan Coffer and Matthew Coffer of Eagle River; stepdaughter, Heidi Fountaine and husband Darin of Spokane, Wash.; grandchildren, Ethan and Connor Rinehart, Elizabeth and Kaylynn Coffer, and T.J. Gillespie; special daughter who was chosen, Rachel Miller and husband Ronnie Miller of Wasilla and their children Breanna and Cody; and many special friends, including Don and Deb Anderson of Puyallup, Wash., and their children.
Mike was preceded in death by his daughter, Michelle Coffer-Rinehart.
In lieu of flowers, friends and family requested a fund be set up at First National Bank Alaska under "Dad's Fund," account 70635743.
Arrangements are with Janssen's Evergreen Memorial Chapel, www.janssenfuneralhomes.com.
Published in Anchorage Daily News from Feb. 1 to Feb. 2, 2011
