top of page

2026 Grand Marshal

Jim "Red" Coffman

Red Coffman.jpg

Jim Coffman - Jim came to Rainier the summer of 1948 from St. Louis, Mo. He spent his early childhood living with his grandmother in Farmington, Mo. before moving with his dad & stepmother in St. Louis. His mother had died when he was 2 yrs. old.

Jim started high school in Rainier. Graduated in 1952. Jim lived on Dead End Road in Beaver Springs.

Jim started working at Rainier Manufacturing a few days after graduating. He worked there 13 years before longshoring in 1965.

Jim and Elaine Tipton were married July 16, 1955. They have 3 boys — Dan, Jim, & Doug.

Dan and Doug became longshoremen. Jim played baseball and now scouts for the Oakland Athletics.

Three of Dan’s kids are longshoremen — Kelli, Justin & (last name/word unclear).

35 years on the waterfront. ILWU Local 21, Longview, Wash. Been retired 28 years.

Coached Little League & Babe Ruth 10–12 years.

Helped start JayCees & helped Rainier Days with Jim Ramey & Lloyd Rea.

Hope of Rainier

Our Co Grand Marshals are for 2026 Rainier Days is HOPE of Rainier. HOPE (Help Our People Eat) of Rainier was founded in 1988 and is dedicated to providing emergency food and other assistance to those in need in the Rainier area. HOPE’s goal is to simply make sure that no person in our community suffers from hunger.

HOPE is a non-profit agency governed by a volunteer board of directors, overseen by an executive director and intake specialist, and operated by over 20 local volunteers who are committed to helping their neighbor.

In addition to providing needed food, HOPE can help with utility assistance and some crisis situations such as rental assistance, gas to get to medical appointments, etc, as funds are available. They also offer application assistance for such programs as SNAP, OHP and CAT.

We recognize and honor the work HOPE does to help our community – families, seniors, veterans, the disabled, the homeless, etc – one neighbor at a time.

PHOTO CAPTION: Representing HOPE of Rainier are, left to right, Mark Soule, volunteer extraordinaire; Lisa Soule, board member and volunteer; Heather Siltala-Carlough, Intake Specialist; and Kelly Miller, Executive Director.

bottom of page