Gerard P. Coleman, 54, social services employee
Gerard P. "Jerry" Coleman, 54, a retired social services employee who found quiet joy in trains, coin collecting and meteorology, died of unknown causes July 12 at his Betterton home on the Eastern Shore.
Born in Philadelphia, he graduated from Chestertown High School in 1962 and spent a year at the University of Baltimore. He enlisted in the Army National Guard and served two years before being honorably discharged in 1966.
Mr. Coleman retired in 1988 after nearly two decades at the Department of Social Services in Baltimore. In recent years, he lived in the Eastern Shore town with his older brother, Francis P. Coleman, and his brother's wife.
Mr. Coleman was passionate about trains. He studied them, read about them, visited train terminals and, on the invitation of a conductor who was a friend, rode on freight trains on the Eastern Shore.
He was a member of St. Dennis Roman Catholic Church in Galena.
Services were held Thursday.
In addition to his brother, he is survived by a niece, Dorcas Coleman of Annapolis.
Pub Date: 7/20/97
