My grandfather was the youngest of six kids. His father died when he was just five years old. His Mom was left to fend for all of them, leaving the family destitute. His high-school football coach in tiny Greenwood, South Carolina, took a liking to him, and in many ways filled the role left empty when his father passed away. He wasn’t big or especially fast, but Joe Coffey played the game of football with enough grit and determination that Western Carolina University came calling and he got to go to college. He played football there of course, but he also became the first member of his family to get a college degree.
90 Years
