Park Springs Member Elizabeth “Boots” Coffed is an inspiration and role model for remaining positive and active throughout life and was awarded the LeadingAge Georgia Positive Aging Award. At 98 years of age, she makes the rounds at Park Springs Life Plan Community and creates opportunities for engagement for her neighbors daily. Always curious and active, Coffed uses her talents and interests to enrich her community. Most recently, that has taken the form of running the puzzles program for Park Springs members.
For years, the Park Springs lobby featured a puzzle table – but few would partake, and puzzles often took weeks to be completed. Then, Coffed stepped in. A former nurse, she believes in the power of puzzles for mental health and socialization. Her enthusiasm was contagious, and soon puzzles were being completed in record time. She has personally curated a collection of more than 100 puzzles and set up a second location at the fitness center. Although Coffed does love puzzles, her interest in her neighbors is what truly inspires her. She has met many Park Springs members through the puzzle program and delights in the community and socialization it creates, noting that people often stay 15 minutes or longer in conversation with their neighbors.
Since she and her late husband moved to Park Springs five years ago, she has been a fixture in the community. Always athletic, she was an avid golfer until 91, pétanque player, a zero-handicap Wii bowler, and a member of a national champion cornhole team. She also is an artist, and although she no longer plays an instrument, she faithfully attends musical performances at Park Springs to support her friends who perform.
Most importantly, Coffed loves people and enriches the life of everyone she encounters by her genuine interest. She earned her R.N. and a B.S. at Russell Sage College and was known for her bedside manner. She later taught at the nursing school at St. Luke’s Hospital while…
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