Gerald Price Coleman, 1929-1991

Gerald, from the first moment that I met him, communicated clearly that there were four loves in his life: his call to ministry, his love of history, his love of family, and his love of baseball, football, basketball and ping pong.

The Rev. Gerald Price Coleman was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, on November 10, 1929, to the late Samuel Price Coleman and Doris Elizabeth Tweedy who lives presently in Crozet, Virginia.

It was while Jerry lived in Lynchburg, that he learned to love baseball, as he worked at the minor league ballpark. His love for baseball never waned. Less than a month before his death he traveled to Baltimore to watch his "Yankees" win again.

In 1955, he married Martha Fritz Coleman, who supported him in his call to ministry and shared with him four children, three daughters and one son. They are Karen Mimms who lives in Crozet with Martha and her son Michael; Nancy J. Johnson who lives in Decatur, Georgia with her husband who is pursuing his Ph.D. at Candler in Wesleyan Studies; Jonathan David Coleman who lives in Charlottesville; and Linda Elizabeth Coleman who lives in Crozet.

Gerald's call to ministry came after serving 10 years in the Army. As he responded to the call, he studied at Lynchburg College in Virginia and graduated with a B.A. from Grand Canyon College in Arizona in 1962. After obtaining his undergraduate degree, he attended Duke Divinity School before transferring to Wesley Theological Seminary where he received his S.T.B. in the spring of 1967. His first appointment was in 1957 at New Bethel-Trinity. Over the next 33 years following New Bethel-Trinity, he served Otter, Roanoke Circuit, Gretna, associate at Greene Memorial in Roanoke, Emporia, North Louisa, and Crozet where he spent the last four years of his life in ministry.

Jerry and I met in seminary at Wesley. He was known to many of us as the "Old Man." During the years that I knew him I was convinced that God had called Jerry to preach the good news. And he did. What more can one say about another than he lived his faith and was faithful to his call.

While serving Crozet, Jerry was involved in the community and the Western Albemarle Ministerial Association as he served as president. It was during this time that the group sponsored several inspirational ecumenical community projects.

Jerry was an avid reader and loved history. He was president of the Charlottesville District Historical Society and served faithfully as a member of the annual conference Historical Society.

On June 15, 1991, the Revs. Joseph T. Carson, Jr.; Samuel E. NeSmith, district superintendent; and Wm. Anthony Layman joined with others at Crozet United Methodist Church to share in the service of death and resurrection for Gerald Price Coleman whose remains were buried in Bedford County.

 

-Wm. Anthony Layman