Family and friends remembered a long-serving member of the Tyler police force Tuesday after he was found dead in his home over the weekend.
Ocie Coffer was a Public Service Officer, tasked with taking non-urgent police reports and directing traffic.
Coffer's death came after a tough year battling with his health, but that didn't help his family get ready for losing him at just 45 years old.
"He just wanted to be with the police department about all his life," Ocie's mom Irene said. "He loved that and he finally came to be a police. That was his goal right there. Now he's gone on to meet the lord."
"My dear mom raised us to be the men that we are," Ocie's brother Roy said. "And he's just a leader. I don't know anything else to say about my brother except 'outstanding,' and I can hear the Father in heaven saying 'Well done, Ocie.'"
Ocie started as a meter reader for Tyler's water department in the 1990s. In just a few years he made the move to the police department.
"The first time I met him, I just knew he was going to be an outstanding employee," Tyler Police Chief Gary Swindle said. "Always had a smile on his face. I wish I had 100 employees just like him. Because if they were, they might not even need a chief because they really do the job that the citizens expect of them."
"I know we loved him most, but I know God loved him best," Ocie's twin sister Orie said. "So I know he's resting now and well taken care of in the arms of God."
The whole family has been forced to take comfort in faith, faced with a brother and a son who still seems like he might walk through the door.
"He said I'm coming over there, so you'd better have my berry pie cooked," Irene said. "I laughed. I told him 'okay, I'm going to have it cooked,' but you know, he never made it."
Swindle said Officer Coffer just recently completed the last of his requirements to become a fully sworn police office, but a turn in his health had put that on the back burner.
Ocie is survived by three children ages 23, 17 and 15. Visitation for Ocie Coffer will be on Thursday, August 30th from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Harmon Undertaking, 1112 N. Palace. Funeral Services will be held at 12:00 p.m., Friday, August 31st at Smith Temple Church of God in Christ, 2400 Walton Rd, Tyler.
Interment will be at Evergreen Cemetery.
