Published: November 13, 2025
Kendal at Oberlin is home to more than 300 people in their 60s and well beyond. They come from near (Oberlin and Cleveland) and far (Hawaii, Canada and elsewhere). The residents share many common values, such as sustainability and lifelong learning, and many have ties to Oberlin College. But each resident has his or her own unique story.
Meet Dave Coffin
Dave Coffin says it has been challenging for him to slow down but now retired and two years plus living at Kendal, he has found a comfortable, calmer pace. “Everybody here gets along. People work together; they are interesting, kind, compassionate, and good listeners,” he says.
Dave, who moved to Kendal from Pennsylvania with his wife, Louise, in the spring of 2023, now focuses on two main interests – food concerns and abstract painting.
Food insecurity and Kendal food
Once a month, about 15 Kendal residents head to Second Harvest Food Bank in Lorain to sort and package food for Oberlin Community Services and the other 30 food pantries in Lorain County. Dave coordinates these monthly volunteer visits, tapping into his 30+ years of experience both as an employee in food service and as a volunteer in pantries primarily in Atlanta and the Philadelphia area.
He likes to educate others about the importance of donating money to food banks such as Second Harvest because nonprofits can buy wholesale and make a dollar stretch.
At Kendal, he serves on the Dining Matters committee, currently headed by Prue Richards. The committee meets monthly with Chef Kyle Nowak and Lisa Wilken, Director of Hospitality Services, to review “comment cards” filled out by residents. They also review nutritional needs, benefits to health, and product origin.
No surprise, that food is a big topic at this life-plan community, where residents have a variety of tastes from international cuisines to special diets and everything in between. Add to that the massive kitchen renovation currently underway, and it’s a miracle that Dining Matters can keep its meetings to an hour.
“Chef Kyle and Lisa are true professionals and, following the Quaker way, we are always working toward consensus,” Dave says, adding “It’s an exciting time to be on the committee.”
The kitchen renovation, slated to be completed before Christmas, will underscore Kendal’s goal to serve fresh and as much local food as possible.
“I make a language out of colors”
Dave turned an extra bedroom into his art studio, where he paints on canvases that can be cloth, wood, or glass with an array of colors based on the emotions of a political situation. For instance, Dave’s “Ukraine’s Tragedy” painting, which he displayed in a Kendal Creates exhibit, grew out of his interest in military history (below is a clip from the 2023 Kendal Creates exhibit.)
“When my wife and I travel to Belgium, we often stay in Ypres. Six hundred thousand soldiers, from both sides, were killed in this one area between 1914 and 1918. If you spend time here, you will see a famous photo of the Ypres Cloth Hall completely bombed out with only the skeleton of its tower left standing. When Russia invaded Ukraine, I noticed the similarities. I believe the painting came from this haunting image of Ypres,” he says.
Dave doesn’t paint on a regular schedule. But when a topic moves him, he’ll disappear into his studio and paint nearly nonstop for hours to complete the work.
And for exercise, he turns daily to his three-wheeled recumbent bike. “I do stop from time to time to take a photograph, which can occasionally show up in my paintings,” he says.
