Mr. Kenneth Lee Coleman

Kenneth Lee Coleman, a long time resident of Dallas and recent resident of Cedar Creek, TX, passed away on March 15, 2011. He was born on November 13, 1921 in Siloam Springs, AK to Ollie Shelly and Alfonso Coleman.

Ken attended Northern Oklahoma Junior College in Tonkawa, OK where he received his pilot’s license. Due to Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the US Navy and became a Naval Aviator, flying PBY aircrafts during WWII. During his 13 year tour of duty, he saw combat in the Pacific and received the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Presidential Unit Citation. He was also a flying instructor and spent 2 years in the Naval Weapons Development Program. He resigned by commission on June 6, 1955 and enrolled in SMU of Dallas, TX. After graduating with a BA Degree in Accounting in 1957, he accepted a position with the Government’s General Accounting Office and transferred to the Defense Contract Audit Agency. During his tenure, he spent 2 tours (5 years) in Saigon as Branch Manager and was responsible for audits of all Dept. of Defense contractors in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Singapore. He received the Meritorious Civilian Service Award, the highest award given by the DCAA. He retired in 1978. After his retirement, if he wasn’t pursuing real estate you could usually find Ken perusing garage sales, inviting servicemen into his home for holiday dinners, taking his wife or family on road trips, playing with his grandkids and great-grand kids, eating stacks of pancakes, singing Navy songs, or protecting the art of relationship management with a cup of coffee every morning with his wife.

Ken is survived by the girl of his dreams, his wife of 68 years, Ruby May Guillory Coleman, his daughters, Janice Smoot of Phoenix, AZ who has brought energy and warmth to her plentiful visits with her beloved parents, and Ann Martinez of Cedar Creek, TX who has opened her heart and her home to Ken and Ruby and dedicated herself to their care, and his son, Kenneth Coleman, Jr. of Loveland, CO., 7 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.