FOR my item on Fr. Joseph Martusciello Way in Woodhaven the other day, I mentioned that it was unusual to find someone I knew on a city street sign. Here’s a street sign and public square dedicated to someone related to me who I never met.
When the Gowanus Expressway was constructed from 1959-1964, Fort Hamilton Parkway was moved and bridged across the open-cut trench, forming a triangle with 7th Avenue and 81st Street. The triangle was named for one of my relatives, Lieutenant William E. Coffey. He was one of my uncles, but I never knew him as he died quite young at World War II’s Battle of the Bulge, two days before his daughter, one of my cousins, was born. There was also a long-vanished American Legion outpost on 7th Avenue that was named for him.
| William E Coffey was the son of John J. Coffey and Sara T. Blake. He was married to Margareth M .Wall and had a daughter named Margie, born on the one year anniversary of her father’s death in France.* He enlisted in the Regular Army in Jamaica, New York on February 24, 1941. He attended high school and was a construction worker before he enlisted. An American Legion Post on 10th Avenue, Brooklyn is named in his honor. [Honor States] |
*My cousin Margaret Coffey says she was born one day before her father’s death.
Lt. Coffey was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart. He is interred in Lorraine American Cemetery, St. Avold, France.
As always, “comment…as you see fit.” I earn a small payment when you click on any ad on the site. Take a look at the new JOBS link in the red toolbar at the top of the page on the desktop version, as I also get a small payment when you view a job via that link.
1/16/24