Kern County Obituaries

Esta O'Dell Coffee 

Submitted by Don Stowell; 13 Feb 2008

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Source Unknown; Date Unknown

O'Dell Coffee laid to rest in Mojave
Active in Mojave for many years,
BY BILL DEAVER
MOJAVE:  Esta O'Dell Coffee was laid to rest in a graveside ceremony at Mojave 
Cemetery September 15.
Mrs. Coffee and her husband Bill moved to Mojave in 1955, purchasing a jewelry 
store at K and Inyo streets from Charles Spicer.
The couple operated Mojave Jewelers for many years. O'Dell was also well-known in 
Mojave as the "Avon Lady," selling Avon products to residents for 15 years.
The Coffees were active members of Mojave's First Southern Baptist Church in 
Mojave. They donated the drapes for the church when a new sanctuary was built in 
the mid-1970's.
O'Dell was also an active member of a "Bunko" club and counted her fellow players 
among her dearest friends.
O'Dell Coffee was born May 29, 1912 to Sidney and Surilda Mullins in Alvord, 
Texas, the second of three girls.
She graduated from Panhandle High School in 1930 and attended Canyon College in 
Canyon, Texas for two years.
The Coffees were married in 1935. Bill managed a B.F. Goodrich store in Wichita 
Falls, Texas, where the couple lived until the beginning of World War II.
Bill, who passed away in 1981, served in the Seabees in the South Pacific during 
the war. O'Dell worked in the post office in San Pedro.
The couple's only child, son Gerald, a Sergeant in the Kern County Sheriffs 
Department, was born in 1946.
Following the war, Bill worked as a watchmaker in Amarillo, Texas. The Coffees 
moved to Bishop in 1952 where Bill worked at Bishop Jewelers before moving to 
Mojave in 1955.
O'Dell lived in Mojave until 1992. She was living in Bakersfield at the time of 
her death on September 12.
O'Dell is survived by son Gerry of Bakersfield, grandchildren, Amy Erickson of 
Port Allsworth, Alaska, and Cleveland Coffee of Bakersfield, and two great-
grandchildren, Chloe and Trule Erickson.
Arrangements were handled by Davis Funeral Home of McFarland.