Obituaries

Miriam Coffin Church Member

Miriam Coffin, 92, a member of Warner Memorial Presbyterian Church in Kensington and a volunteer with Meals on Wheels, died Oct. 30 at the Fair Haven retirement home in Sykesville, Md., after a stroke.

Mrs. Coffin moved to Sykesville from Kensington about 15 years ago. She was born Miriam Hilton in Mercer, Maine, and was a 1938 home economics graduate of the University of Maine. She settled in the Washington area after college and briefly did statistical work at the U.S. Agriculture Department.

Her memberships included the American Association of University Women.

Her husband, John W. Coffin, whom she married in 1941, died in 2006. Two of their children died, John S. Coffin in 1961 and Judith Bryan in 1974.

Survivors include a son, Allen D. Coffin of Windsor, Calif.; two granddaughters; and five great-grandchildren.

-- Adam Bernstein

Renato E. 'Venti' Ventura Metals Company Executive

Renato E. "Venti" Ventura, 84, an executive vice president at Miscellaneous Metals in Frederick from 1981 until he retired in 2002, died Oct. 22 at his home in Chevy Chase of renal failure.

Before joining Miscellaneous Metals, a steel products company, Mr. Ventura was executive vice president of Fred S. Gichner Iron Works in Beltsville. He had joined Gichner in 1952 as a draftsman.

Renato Edmondo Ventura was born in Cairo. He moved to Syracuse, N.Y., in 1949 and received a bachelor's degree in physics and mathematics in 1955 from Howard University.

He lived in Bethesda for more than 50 years and was a member of the Edgemoor swim and tennis club and the International Wine and Food Society. He was a past president of the D.C. Metropolitan Subcontractors Association.

His marriage to Alexandra Weekes Ventura ended in divorce. His son Alan Ventura died in 2006.

Survivors include three children, Stefan Ventura of Bethesda, Lisa Anderson of Frederick and Michael Ventura of Silver Spring; a sister; and six grandchildren.

-- Lauren Wiseman