Merle Coffelt

1940 - 2007

Merle Coffelt Feb. 4, 1940 - June 7, 2007 Merle Coffelt, born on February 4, 1940 in Bakersfield California, daughter of Ruth and Robert Boles, passed away peacefully on June 7, 2007, at her home surrounded by family and loved ones. She was a member of the 1957 graduation class of East Bakersfield High, where she met many life long friends, including her husband of 17 years, Jim Coffelt who preceded her in death in 2003. After obtaining a degree in Social Work from USC, Merle focused her career on children's issues, working with emotional abused youth in Los Angeles and in the pediatric oncology department at Shands University Hospital in Gainesville, Florida. She continued championing for children while working for international adoptions in Paso Robles. She remained active in the San Francisco and Poway communities where she has resided the past five years. Merle died the same way she lived, with humor, honesty and dignity touching many lives, leaving indelible footprints on all who knew her. She shall be greatly missed. She is survived by her daughter, Sheryl Tynes; and grandsons, Jordan Tynes and Christopher Ber; stepson, Kenneth Coffelt and daughter-in-law, Eleanor Coffelt, their children, Felix and Clara; stepdaughter, Jeannie Brletic and her children, India, Sammy and Hannah; and nieces, Susan and great-niece, Sarah. A celebration of her life will held at the home of her daughter, Sheryl Tynes, in early September.