Ronnie "Grandpa" Coleman

Ronnie “Grandpa” Coleman, age 77, passed away peacefully at his home on December 4, 2018. Ronnie was born on July 12, 1941 in Jacksonville, Florida to Bud and Ruby Coleman. He graduated from Paxon High School in 1959. Ronnie worked and managed Lee and Cates Glass Westside for 35+ years. He was well known and loved by all who had the pleasure of meeting him. Ronnie never met a stranger. He would drive around stopping at restaurants, yard sales, and just to admire people’s gardens. Ronnie loved plowing and tilling his garden. He always made sure it was big enough to have plenty of produce to give to others. Ronnie was great at cooking and loved to cook for big crowds of people. He loved to help people. One of the places that Ronnie loved most was Georgia, where he and Carole owned a home for many years. Ronnie also loved to search for pottery, lamps, and other treasure that could only be acquired by searching and digging his way through yard sales, estate sales and many backyards and barns. It is also well known that Ronnie built the ultimate man cave on the back of his property and dubbed it “The Cracker House” where he put all of his personal treasures on display for friends and family to admire. While all of the antiques and treasures in the cracker house were incredible, the best thing about the house was the conversations of friends and family around a table full of fresh home cooking, and the fire of the wood burning stove. Ronnie was a family man through and through. He loved all of his family here and his Georgia family. Ronnie was a good Christian man that loved church and hearing pastors preach. He and Carole are members of Riverstone Community Church. He was a very benevolent man always happy to give donations and he was humble, he did not want praise or recognition for what he gave.

Ronnie is survived by his beloved wife of 56 years Carole Coleman; his sons, Robert Lee Coleman (Kim) and Kevin Ronald Coleman (Dana); grandchildren, Joshua, Jacob, Madison and Jesse; great grandson, Gage; brother, Lamar Coleman (Dolores); sister, Kathy Sturgill (Nelson); and a large extended family.

The family will receive friends at Hardage-Giddens Riverside Memorial Park and Funeral Home on Sunday, December 9th from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. Funeral services will be held at Old Plank Road Baptist Church on Monday, December 10, 2018, beginning at 11:00am, with burial at Hardage-Giddens Riverside Memorial Park to follow.