COURIER FILE PHOTO From left , Bobby Cofer , Larry Cofer , Elsie Mae Cofer and Tom Lazio chat after the “ Celebrate Ottumwa ” dinner at the Bridge View Center . At the event in 2008 , Larry Cofer received the Gene Schultz Community Service Award from the Ottumwa Area Chamber of Commerce for his volunteer work .
Bettering the community , one project at a time
Larry Cofer uses hands to the benefit of Ottumwa
STORY BY CHAD DRURY Staff Writer
Don ' t bother asking Larry Cofer to play a round of golf . It wouldn ' t be worth it , and he ' d be the first to say it .
But , when it comes to building and restoring — all for the betterment of his community — those 85-year-old hands have put in many a hard day ' s work .
From restoration of the Wabash Railroad Pedestrian Bridge , to a playground in Sycamore Park , to his mission in his retirement years — Naval Air Station
Ottumwa — projects have found Cofer , not the other way around .
" I never figured I would make a very good foreman . I ' m not a good delegator , but people helped me ," said Cofer , resting comfortably in a chair in the Pennsylvania Place lobby , where he ' s lived for the past 12 years . " But as far as telling you to do this or this , I was never too good at that .
" But I don ' t know . I had time , and I just wanted to stay busy ," he added .
Cofer grew up in Arkansas , earned an engineering degree and then began a 29-year career at John Deere Works Ottumwa , where he was a test engineer " most of the time ."
But when he retired in 1992 , there was a void . It didn ' t last long .
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