JOSEPHINE “PEPI” VOTAVA COFFMAN
09/08/1927 - 10/02/2021
Pepi Coffman was an incredible woman. So incredible that it’s taken a year to write a tribute that does her justice.
Josephine “Pepi” Votava Coffman was born on September 8, 1927 in Omaha, Nebraska to Joseph Thomas Votava and Anna Louisa Dusatko Votava. She adored her older sister Mary. Pepi’s father was a prominent attorney and her mother was involved in many Czech, Catholic and community activities. Pepi was always very proud that she was 100 percent Czech. She loved visiting her grandparents even though they spoke mostly Czech. Her best friend growing up was her cousin Barb and they loved visiting the family farms. Pepi left us with hundreds of memories of her childhood in Nebraska.
Pepi graduated from the Univ of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1949 with a BA in English. There are two very different stories of how she met her husband JB. JB always said he saw this “knockout” leaning against the hood of his car talking with friends and it was “love at first sight.” Pepi said that JB had dated every one of her Kappa Kappa Gamma sisters and that she was the only one left so he settled for her! The respect and love they had for each other lasted until Pepi’s death.
Pepi and JB were married in Omaha on April 10, 1950 and started married life in Lincoln. JB always said that the reason he was allowed to marry Pepi was because her father, who was a bit hard of hearing, thought he was a “theology” major and not a “geology” major. Soon after their marriage, JB took a job with Carter Oil Company (now ExxonMobil) and spent the next 35+ years “dragging” Pepi and their ever-growing family all over the Midwest, California, Texas, England and back again. But Pepi was up to the challenge and always made a wonderful home and life for her family, as they moved almost every year.
Pepi never exactly fit the mold of the “typical” 50’s housewife. She put thousands of miles on the old Country Squire station wagon taking the kids to all of their sports, church and school activities. She even kept her sanity when all three girls came down with chicken pox the same day (with JB out of town). Pepi always did what was “expected” of her, but raised her children to be independent, outspoken thinkers and was a feminist before the word had been invented.
Even with her busy life as a wife and mom, Pepi found time to do things that she enjoyed. She volunteered with many different charities, helped teach children with Cerebral Palsy to swim, and loved her time as a docent on the Houston ZooMobile. Pepi was a voracious reader and instilled her love for reading in at least two of her kids. She loved to work out, especially high-impact aerobics. Her gardening achievements were many and she truly had a green thumb. If she wasn’t in the house, Pepi could be found outside tending to her plants and flowers, swimming her laps, or sitting with a book and watching the birds she fed daily. Pepi loved all forms of art and her needlework was beautiful. Pepi was the ultimate hostess and threw incredible cocktail parties. Her homes were always beautiful and filled with plants and fresh flowers. Pepi had an innate ability to pull things together to create eclectic, comfortable homes.
Pepi and JB traveled the world and had great times and many adventures. Everywhere she traveled, Pepi was always on the lookout for a “good deal” and gifts for kids and grandkids. After her death, the kids found that her home was filled with loads of things none of them had ever laid eyes on before!
As JB’s health declined, Pepi became more involved in his caretaking. Gone were Sunday Mass, movies and the theater, working out, lunches with friends and dinners out which left her separated from her friends and activities. After JB’s death in 2008, Pepi never stopped mourning, visiting the cemetery on an almost daily basis. But she was of strong Czech stock and carried on, surviving five medical emergencies that doctors said would have killed any other woman her age.
Pepi’s funeral was November 23, 2021 at St. John Vianney Catholic Church (she was a founding member) and her ashes placed with JB’s at Memorial Oaks Cemetery.
Pepi is predeceased by her husband, parents, sister Mary and brother-in-law Allen Knapp, and son-in-law Joe Peel. There were at least a dozen dogs and five burros from their ranch to greet her when she was reunited with JB.
Pepi is survived by her four children, six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren: Anne Davee (husband Steve and son Paul), Bruce Coffman (wife Bonnie McMillian and children James “Ziggy” and Claire), Liz Peel and her son Joey, and Jody Gougler (husband Phil and children JP [wife Amy and their children Chloe, Brody and Beau]) and Kate Levenson (husband Nathan).
What else is there to say about this amazing woman we were lucky enough to call our mom? She loved a good joke and loved to laugh, had a subtle, sometimes snarky sense of humor and could cuss like a sailor in both English and Czech. Pepi stood up to anyone who even attempted to interfere with her children or parental instincts. She didn’t suffer fools lightly and we always knew where we stood with all 5’1” of her. But most of all, Pepi’s life was her family.
My mother was the most important person in my life and taught me to be as generous with myself, my time and my money as possible. She was tiny but mighty and lived and loved passionately. The world is a lesser place without her.
May her memory be eternal.