{"id":950,"date":"2022-12-02T00:20:50","date_gmt":"2022-12-02T08:20:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/deafaids.info\/main\/?p=950"},"modified":"2022-12-02T00:20:50","modified_gmt":"2022-12-02T08:20:50","slug":"ronald-ron-lloyd-coffey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deafaids.info\/main\/ronald-ron-lloyd-coffey\/","title":{"rendered":"Ronald “Ron” Lloyd Coffey"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Ronald Lloyd Coffey, 33, died in his Arlington, Virginia home on Monday, June 27, 1994, according to his friend, MJ Bienvenu. She said his death was caused by AIDS-related complications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coffey worked independently as a professional sign language interpreter in the D.C. area. Bienvenu said that “he interpreted on a national level, as well. He was really known all over the United States.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coffey was born to parents who were deaf. Bienvenu, who had been Coffey’s roommate for the past two years, met Coffey when he enrolled in a sign-language interpreting class she was teaching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“One of the things in life that Ron wanted to see happen more than anything is the acceptance of deaf people as a unique linguistic and cultural group.” she said. “Ron knew this [was] hard for many people in our society for they have not had the opportunity of growing up or living in a deaf household as Ron did.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coffey had been working toward a master’s degree in teaching interpreting at Western Maryland COllege prior to his death. He held a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland for anthropology and an associate’s degree in interpreting from Gallaudet University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coffey’s nickname was “Ginger,” Bienvenu said he enjoyed New Wave music and traveling, especially to Provincetown, where he and his longtime companion, Roert Wasik liked to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coffey also enjoyed dining out and often joked about his lack of cooking skills, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another interest of Coffey’s was softball. He began playing it with the D.C. Sports Association in 1985 and continued for several years<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wasik predeceased Coffey on July 24, 1992. Coffey is survived by two sisters, Carolyn Stiltner of Sterling, Va., and DIana Lusker of Centreville, Va.; and a brother, Jerry Coffey of Arlington. His remains were cremated and scattered at undisclosed locations, Bienvenu said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A memorial service for Coffey is scheduled on Saturday, July 30, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. in Gallaudet University’s Ole Jim building at 800 Florida Ave., NE. For further information, call (301) 277-3944 (TTY) or (301)277-3945 (voice).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyone wishing to remember Coffey with a gift in his name is asked to consider the Bicultural Center Center, 5506.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source: Washington Blade | Submitted by Bob Rourke | Transcribed by Nanette Edwards<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ronald Lloyd Coffey, 33, died in his Arlington, Virginia home on Monday, June 27, 1994, according to his friend, MJ Bienvenu. She said his death was caused by AIDS-related complications. Coffey worked independently as a professional sign language interpreter in the D.C. area. Bienvenu said that “he interpreted on a national level, as well. He […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-remembering"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deafaids.info\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deafaids.info\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deafaids.info\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deafaids.info\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deafaids.info\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=950"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/deafaids.info\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/950\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":952,"href":"https:\/\/deafaids.info\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/950\/revisions\/952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deafaids.info\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deafaids.info\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deafaids.info\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}