Dr. Robert Lee “Bob” Coleman, 92, of Tifton passed away Tuesday, March 6, 2018, at Cypress Pond Assisted Living in Tifton. His funeral service will be held at 2:00 p.m. Thursday, March 8, 2018, in the Chapel of Bowen-Donaldson Home for Funerals with the Rev. Benjy Varnell officiating. Dr. Coleman will be laid to rest at Oak Ridge Cemetery. The family will receive friends Thursday, March 8, 2018, from 1:00 p.m. until the hour of the service at Bowen-Donaldson Home for Funerals.
David Sone, Sonny Hamilton, Ron Evans, Mike Smith, James Herring and Mark McGill will serve as pallbearers. Honorary pallbearers will be members of the Searchers, Fellowship and Christian Covenant Sunday School classes at Tifton’s First United Methodist Church and members of the Tifton Rotary Club.
Born December 14, 1925 in Fitzgerald, Dr. Coleman was the son of the late J. V. Coleman and Annie Lee Witherington Coleman. He was also preceded in death by one brother and sister-in-law, Don and Jean Coleman.
Dr. Coleman served in the United States Navy and served in the American Theater during World War II. He then attended Mercer University, where he was a member of the band, the A Capella choir and ATO Fraternity. There he met and married Joyce and they moved to Memphis, Tennessee, so he could attend the Southern College of Optometry. After graduating in 1951, they moved to Tifton and began his optometry practice in August of that year.
Dr. Coleman was a member of the First United Methodist Church in Tifton, where he was a member and past president of the Fellowship Sunday School class; former president of the United Methodist Men and lay leader. Bob was a former president of the Tifton Kiwanis Club and a member of the Tifton Rotary Club, receiving the Paul Harris Fellow Award.
Bob enjoyed traveling to Europe, Hawaii and his favorite place was St. Simons Island. He did missionary trips to Jamaica and Haiti, where he examined many patients in homes, churches and hospitals.
Dr. Coleman is survived by his loving wife of 68 years, Joyce Youngblood Coleman of Tifton, who he married on June 18, 1949 in Dublin; his children and their spouses, James Robert Coleman and Dwana Oliver Coleman of Tifton and Sally Ann Coleman Belflower and Phillip Belflower of Chula; his grandchildren, James Robert “Jay” Coleman Jr., Elizabeth Ann “Liz” Belflower and Barton “Lee” Coleman; and his great-grandchildren, Hunter Leigh Coleman and James Robert “Trey” Coleman III.
Flowers will be accepted or memorial gifts may be made to Hospice of Tift Area, P. O. Box 747, Tifton, GA; or the First United Methodist Church of Tifton Music Fund, 107 West 12th Street, Tifton, GA 31794.
The family would like to extend their special appreciation to the staff at Cypress Pond Assisted Living and Hospice of Tift Area for their exemplary care of Dr. Coleman.