Richard J. Coffee (February 14, 1925 – February 19, 2017) was an American Democratic Party

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

from

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

who served in the

New Jersey Senate The New Jersey Senate is the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts with an average population of 232,225 (2020 figure ...

and as chairman of the

New Jersey Democratic State Committee The New Jersey Democratic State Committee (NJDSC) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of New Jersey. LeRoy J. Jones Jr. is the chair and Peg Schaffer is the vice chair. Its main rival is the New Jersey Republican State C ...

Biography

Coffee was born in 1925 in Lawrence Township,

Mercer County, New Jersey Mercer County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Its county seat is Trenton, also the state capital, but also directly borders the Philadelphia metropolitan area and is included within the Federal Communications Commission's ...

. He attended Princeton High School and the Merchant Marine Academy. He served as an

ensign Ensign most often refers to: * Ensign (flag), a flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality * Ensign (rank), a navy (and former army) officer rank Ensign or The Ensign may also refer to: Places * Ensign, Alberta, Alberta, Canada * Ensign, Ka ...

in the Merchant Marine during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. His political career began in 1954 when he was elected to the Lawrence Township Committee. He served as Mayor of Lawrence Township, Mercer County, New Jersey, in 1957. He was elected to the Mercer County

Board of Chosen Freeholders In New Jersey, a Board of County Commissioners (until 2020 named the Board of Chosen Freeholders) is the elected county-wide government board in each of the state's 21 counties. In the five counties that have an elected county executive, the ...

in 1955 and served for 12 years. As freeholder, Coffee fought to establish a park system for Mercer County. He was instrumental in the creation of the

Mercer County Park Commission Mercer may refer to: Business * Mercer (automobile), a defunct American automobile manufacturer (1909–1925) * Mercer (consulting firm), a human resources consulting firm headquartered in New York City, US * Mercer (occupation), a merchant or tra ...

in 1964. He also helped establish

Mercer County Community College Mercer County Community College (MCCC) is a Public university, public, community college in Mercer County, New Jersey, Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. More than 7,000 students enroll in one or more credit courses each year. Esta ...

in 1966.Staff
"Mercer County honors Richard J. Coffee"
''

80260840051186.txt" target="_blank" class="mw-redirect" title=""Mercer County honors Richard J. Coffee"">"Mercer County honors Richard J. Coffee"
''The Trentonian'', October 19, 2009. Accessed May 29, 2011. "The Lawrence resident is considered the driving force behind the county park system. Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes said Coffee should have been honored long ago." In 1967, he was elected to the

for a four-year term. In the Senate he was a member of the Joint Appropriations Committee and the Assistant Minority Leader. He went on to serve 17 years as Executive Director of the New Jersey General Assembly">General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

Democratic Office. Coffee served as Mercer County Democratic chairman from 1969 to 1981, and was the state chairman from 1977 to 1981. On October 15, 2009, Coffee was honored by Mercer County Park, which was renamed Richard J. Coffee Mercer County Park in his honor for acquiring the land in the 1950s. Coffee died on February 19, 2017, in Plainsboro Township, New Jersey, Plainsboro, New Jersey.

References

External links

Biographical information for Richard J. Coffee
from

The Political Graveyard The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 Politics of the United States, American political figures and List of United States political families, political families, along with other informa ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coffee, Richard J. 1925 births 2017 deaths United States Merchant Mariners of World War II Chairmen of the New Jersey Democratic State Committee Mayors of places in New Jersey County commissioners in New Jersey Democratic Party New Jersey state senators People from Lawrence Township, Mercer County, New Jersey Politicians from Mercer County, New Jersey United States Merchant Marine Academy alumni Military personnel from Mercer County, New Jersey Princeton High School (New Jersey) alumni United States Navy officers 20th-century mayors of places in New Jersey 20th-century members of the New Jersey Legislature