A teacher who spent three decades educating students in St. John’s is being laid to rest tomorrow morning.

Ken Coffey passed away on Sunday at St. Clare’s, he was 66.

Coffey graduated from Gonzaga High School at the top of his class in 1970, and returned there five years later- this time as a teacher – where he began a teaching career that would last until his retirement in 2005.

Dean Macdonald knew Coffey both as a teacher and as a friend.

He says he was taught by Coffey for about a year while he was at Gonzaga, but it was as an adult that he really got to know him through various school initiatives he was involved in.

Macdonald remembers Coffey as one of an “all-star cast” of teachers at the school at the time.

He says it is the passing of an era. Every teacher there at the time put in many extra hours helping students. He says for everyone who went to school there at the time this is a reminder that time doesn’t stand still.

Macdonald says Coffey was a very passionate man.

Coffey had a very sharp wit and was very intelligent, says Macdonald. He cared about the world, the province and his students. Macdonald attests that when a teacher cares that much it has a major impact on how you learn.

Coffey will be laid to rest tomorrow morning with a service at St. Pius X at 9:30.