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 simultaneously earning her teaching degree at Columbia University. While raising her family, she was an active community volunteer. As her children went to high school and college, she participated in a pilot program for integrating special education students into public schools. Upon retirement, she and her husband were “road scholars” traveling the country, learning about interesting people and places along the way. Eventually, they settled in Reynolds Plantation to be close to family and enjoyed lake living for 22 years before moving to the independent living community at Park Springs in their 90s.

“I enjoy meeting new people and learning their stories,” shared Coffed. “I find that interested people are truly the most interesting. Spending time with someone over conversation or a puzzle is how you build connections with others, which I believe is the key to a long and happy life.”

There is a science behind her beliefs. This year, The U.S. Surgeon General released an advisory on the healing effects of social connection and community, entitled Our Epidemic of Loneliness

and Isolation. In his introductory letter, Surgeon General Dr. Vivek H. Murthy shares the following: Loneliness is far more than just a bad feeling—it harms both individual and societal health. It is associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety, and premature death. The mortality impact of being socially disconnected is similar to that caused by smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day, and even greater than that associated with obesity and physical inactivity. 

Always the keeper of family history and stories, Coffed published two memoirs depicting stories of life on the farm without electricity or communication that are cherished by her two children, four grandchildren, 15 great grandchildren and countless other family members. Now an avid user of modern communication – she loves the accessibility to Facetime and photos – but still prefers to put her iPhone away and sit down one-on-one to truly connect with others. 

“Boots is a ray of sunshine and the epitome of positive aging,” said Park Springs Executive Director Jeff Helms. “I cannot think of anyone more deserving for this honor and thank LeadingAge Georgia for recognizing her with this award.”