CARBONDALE, Kan. – Vernon Tilman Coffee, 82, passed away Friday, March 31, 2023, at Brookside Retirement Community, Overbrook, Kan. He was born Aug. 9, 1940, the son of Ernest Vernon and Eunice (Crank) Coffee, in Emmett, Ark.

Vernon moved to Washington, D.C., the year after he graduated from high school to work for the FBI. While living there, he met, and then married Sandra Sue Haas, on June 11, 1961, in Carbondale, Kan. He attended barber college for two years and became a master barber. He and Sandra moved to Topeka, Kan., in 1964, where he worked as a carpenter for the next 40 years. He attended the Carbondale Church of Christian Fellowship, Carbondale, Kan., and was a 50-plus-year member of the Masons.

Vernon was preceded in death by his son, Todd; granddaughter, Samantha; brother, Milton; and parents, Ernest and Eunice.

Vernon is survived by his wife of 61 years, Sandra; son, Patrick Coffee and wife, Sandy, and their children, Zach and Danae, of Dallas, Texas; son, Scott Coffee and wife, Susan, and their children, Daric and Tara, DeSoto, Kan.; and brother, Gary Coffee and his wife, Peggy, Henderson, Texas.

Funeral services will be 2 p.m. Tuesday, April 4, at Carbondale Church of Christian Fellowship, 430 Commercial St., Carbondale. The family will receive friends from 1:30 p.m. until service time at the church. Burial will be in Carbondale Cemetery.

Memorial contributions can be made to Helping Hands Humane Society, sent in care of Feltner Funeral Home, 818 Topeka Ave., Lyndon KS 66451. Condolences can be left at feltnerfuneralhome.com.