Life for Canton High School’s new custodian, Dwayne Coffee, was not easy. He has gone through many rough patches in his life that have made him into who he is today.

Growing up, for Dwayne, was tough. He was constantly sick from Kindergarten through fifth grade, suffering from encephalitis and mumps. His sickness made it harder for him to learn in high school, though he had some help from some of his teachers. His fever got so high that he lost most of his eyesight. He later had  surgery on his right eye to fix his slight lazy eye, which ended up giving him some of his sight back.

“School was tough since I was sick, but I pushed through, although I still wish I could’ve done better. ” Coffee, custodian, said.

After he had graduated high school, Dwayne went to college at Panhandle State University for about two and a half years studying agribusiness. He then transferred to SWOSU for about half a year, and ended up moving to Enid to work. There he worked at the Oakwood Country Club for 8 years and quit, to then work as a custodian for Enid Public Schools for another 8 years. Afterwards he worked at Continental Management as a housekeeper for 15 years before deciding to move back home, and become a custodian at Canton Public Schools.

Coffee loves to play with his australian shepherd, Shasta, and has other little hobbies in his free time. Those hobbies include things like hunting, fishing, camping, and bike riding. He also likes to collect  things like key chains, belt buckles, cards, and knifes. His card collection ranges anywhere from baseball, football, and even some basketball.

“I keep getting different knives from the black powder shoots that I go to. We get door prizes there, and I usually rush to get the knives to add to my collection.” Coffee said.

Although he had fun while he was away, Coffee likes it better in his hometown with his family. “I wanted to be back home. I was raised here and I wanted to be closer to my family,” Coffee said. It keeps him closer to his family and he enjoys the familiarity of this small town he calls home.