John W. Coffey, 91; CIA Communications Expert

John William Coffey, a communications expert who was deputy director of support for the CIA in the 1970s, died of multiple myeloma July 23 at his home in Arlington County. He was 91.

In 1947, after serving as a captain in the Army Signal Corps, Mr. Coffey joined the newly formed Central Intelligence Agency as the deputy chief of the communications division. He was stationed for several years in London and Frankfurt, West Germany.

While working at the State Department from 1963 to 1965, Mr. Coffey played a key role in reorganizing the communications department and establishing the Diplomatic Telecommunications Service. He also helped to set up a hotline between Washington and Moscow.

He received the State Department Superior Honor Award in 1965 and the CIA's Distinguished Intelligence Medal in 1975, the year he retired. The citation with the CIA medal noted "his personal integrity, unstinting humanity and unlimited commitment to his responsibilities."

Mr. Coffey was born in Denver and graduated from Princeton University, where he was on the varsity crew team.

During World War II, he served in the Mediterranean and received the Bronze Star. He was a 1948 graduate of Georgetown University law school.

After retiring from the CIA, Mr. Coffey worked as office manager and did research for the law firm of Adams, Porter & Radigan from 1978 to 1996.

He was a daily communicant at St. Agnes Catholic Church in Arlington and was involved with the parish council. He participated in weekly night vigils, was a lector and was responsible for the Brother Dennis and Associates social outreach program for 10 years.

He devoted many hours to supporting local high school rowing in the 1970s and 1980s and was head of a boosters organization for the Washington-Lee High School crew team. He also was a past president of the Northern Virginia Rowing Association.

He was a reader of talking books for many years for the Arlington County Library and a driver for Meals on Wheels in Arlington. He was delivering meals weekly even into his 80s, when he could barely walk up the front stairs of people's houses, a son said.

Survivors include his wife of 53 years, Grahame Crichton Coffey of Arlington; four children, Susan C. Coffey of San Francisco, Elizabeth G. Coffey of Hudson, N.Y., John Walsh Coffey of Vienna and Peter F. Coffey of Richmond; a sister; and nine grandchildren.

-- Yvonne Shinhoster Lamb