Dr. John H Coleman Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

Dr. John H. Coleman, a longtime Toledo physician whose service to profession and community inspired his children, died Nov. 26 in his Potomac Falls, Va., home. He was 88. The cause of death is pending, according to the Virginia chief medical examiner's northern district office in Manassas, Va. "It's not important how he died, but how he lived," said his son Michael, a former mayor of Columbus. "He lived a full and complete life, a great man in many ways." Dr. Coleman and his wife, Joan - retired executive director of the Toledo/?Lucas County Victim-Witness Assistance Program - moved to Virginia in 2003. Dr. Coleman joined the Sterling, Va., medical practice of his daughter, Linda. To younger physicians in Toledo, Dr. Coleman was a role model, said Dr. Imran Andrabi, president and chief executive of Mercy Health. "He was a true physician and gentleman," said Dr. Andrabi, a resident in family medicine under Dr. Coleman who eventually took over his practice. Dr. Coleman was named 1999 Family Physician of the Year by the Ohio Academy of Family Physicians. He taught at the former Medical College of Ohio and what is now Mercy Health St. Vincent Medical Center and served on the Lucas County Children Services and Cordelia Martin Health Center boards. He oversaw family practice residency at the former Mercy Hospital. He became the only northwest Ohio delegate to the state Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Foundation. "His attitude was, 'If there is some way I can help, I will do that,'" said Judge C. Allen McConnell of Toledo Municipal Court, who was a patient and friend. "He contributed mightily to the community." His son Michael said Dr. Coleman "set an example of serving someone, to better the life of someone else" to his children, including his son Jeffrey, who has worked for Franklin County and state government. The grandson of a slave, he was born in August, 1928, to Cleo and Ben Coleman and grew up in segregated Madison, Ind. He was valedictorian at age 15 of his Broadway High School graduating class. He was a graduate of Indiana University, from which he received his medical degree in 1953. He was a captain in the Army Medical Corps and served in El Paso. His son David died in 1977. Surviving are his wife, Joan, whom he married in August, 1953; sons, Michael and Jeffrey; daughter, Dr. Linda Coleman, and eight grandchildren. Visitation will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, with services at 11 a.m., in All Saints Episcopal Church, where he was a member. Arrangements are by the Dale-Riggs Funeral Home. The family suggests tributes to his fraternity, Kappa Alpha Psi Inc., Ashburn, Va. .

Dr. John H Coleman

November 26, 2016