William David Coleman (Dave), LCDR USNR, age 80, passed away on August 10, 2022, at Saint Louis University Hospital in Saint Louis, Missouri due to complications from Renal Cell Carcinoma and End-Stage Renal Disease.
Mr. Coleman was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi to William Raymond (Ray) and Mary Emma (Hutchins) Coleman on July 30, 1942. His father was a pilot for Pan American Airlines, and he grew up in various places ranging from Brazil to Houston, Texas, and Ridgefield, Connecticut. He graduated from Ridgefield High School in 1960 and attended Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania where he earned his bachelor’s degree in Economics in 1965. He then attended Cornell Law School but felt the call to serve his nation in wartime and joined the United States Navy as a commissioned officer in 1967.
Mr. Coleman was a Vietnam Veteran and served as an Avionics and Photo Interpretation Intelligence Officer with the RVAH-6 Reconnaissance Attack (Heavy) Squadron on the USS Enterprise with a tour of duty in Vietnam in 1969. He earned the National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal (one bronze star), the Navy Achievement Medal, and the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (Korea) for his service in the response to the 1969 EC-21 Shootdown Incident.
Mr. Coleman resigned honorably from active service in 1972 and United States Naval Reserve as Lieutenant Commander in 1982 to raise his family. He is preceded in death by his father Ray, mother Mary Emma, and beloved uncle, Earle Coleman, Jr. He is survived by his sister Judith Coleman Enright of Norwalk, Connecticut, Richard (Melanie) Coleman of Brandon, Mississippi, and children, William Ray Coleman, II of Roseville, Minnesota, Julie Coleman of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Sarah (Daniel) Lange of Saint Louis, Missouri.
Mr. Coleman is also the beloved grandfather of Stephen (Jordan) Vitale, III and David Lange of Saint Louis, Missouri. He was a very important part of his grandchildren’s lives and helped raise both with his daughter, Sarah, and son-in-law, Daniel, who spent the last two years of Mr. Coleman’s life caring for him full-time so he could live at home while on hemodialysis.
Arrangements for services are pending and will be updated accordingly. Please feel free to donate to the American Kidney Fund in his memory.
The family asks that any donations be made to the American Kidney Fund at this link: Help me raise money for the American Kidney Fund in honor of William D. Coleman.
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