Sharon “Sherry” Mary Coffey

OBITUARY

Sharon “Sherry” Mary Coffey passed away peacefully with her family at her bedside on October 6, 2025. Sherry’s life will be remembered for her kindness to all and love for her family, friends, and community.

Sherry was the second child of Jack and Florence McKian. She was born on June 5, 1939 in Traverse City, Michigan and preceded in death by her brother, Peter McKian. She grew up on the family cherry farm, attended Traverse City High School, and earned her Bachelor’s degree in Business from Central Michigan University at Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Upon graduation she ventured west to San Diego, California with a group of her sorority sisters. She was initially employed as an Executive Secretary at Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical and later transferred with her boss to General Dynamics where she was actively involved in the historical days of Apollo 11 and the Lunar Landing.

Sherry and her husband, Tom, met in South Mission Beach in the ’60s. After Tom’s completion of his active Naval service they wed in 1971 in Sherry’s hometown on the “Old Mission Penninsula in Traverse City, Michigan. The happy couple returned to San Diego to begin their “54 year Honeymoon”.

Sherry is survived by her husband, Tom; son Matthew and grandson Kingston; and daughter Aimee and granddaughter Elliot.

A celebration of a life will be held by her family in later months. In lieu of flowers, donations in Sherry’s memory to the Alztheimer’s Association are encouraged.

EL CAJON, Calif. (FOX 5/KUSI) — A 70-year-old man from El Cajon is recovering in the hospital after a hit-and-run incident that left him with serious injuries.

Julio Arreola was struck while crossing the street near US Bank on Fletcher Parkway and Pioneer Way around 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

“I was lucky not to get killed or paralyzed,” said Arreola, reflecting on his survival from the hospital.

He suffered fractures in his ribs and spine, and required staples for a head injury, according to his sister, Luz Arreola.

The suspect, 19-year-old Brian Guevara, fled the scene but was apprehended by police using license plate readers. He was booked on hit-and-run charges.

Arreola is currently unable to work at his TV repair shop due to his injuries, but he is focused on recovery and paying his bills.

This incident is part of a troubling trend of hit-and-runs in the area, including a recent case where a 6-year-old boy was killed near City Heights and another in El Cajon where a 12-year-old boy was hospitalized.

Arreola and his family are urging drivers to be more cautious to prevent further tragedies.

FOX 5/KUSI’s Jennifer Franco contributed to this report.

All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by KSWB. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat from a broadcast script into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by KSWB staff before being published.