Esther Lillian Coleman

Esther Lillian Weiss Coleman September 19, 1921 April 10, 2008 Esther Lillian Weiss Coleman, 86, a devoted homemaker and lifelong member and volunteer in the Methodist Church, died of complications from cancer Thursday in Waco. Burial will be private. A memorial service will be 11 a.m. Monday, April 14, at First United Methodist Church of Waco, 4901 Cobbs Drive, with a reception to follow. Besides rearing two children, she and her husband, Dr. James A. "Arch" Coleman Jr., of Waco, volunteered extensively in community and church activities throughout their 61-year marriage, including ringing kettle bells for the Salvation Army and cooking for Meals on Wheels. "She's kind of been my rudder," said Dr. Coleman, 86, a retired internist who was with her when she died at Providence Health Center. "She's kept me going on an even keel, kept me from going off the deep end. And she's certainly kept me less critical of people." Mrs. Coleman was born in Brenham, Texas, on Sept. 19, 1921, to Louis and Selma Weiss. She graduated from Brenham High School and Blinn Junior College in Brenham before becoming a registered nurse in 1944 at Scott & White School of Nursing in Temple now at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton. She completed advanced training at Barnes Hospital Anesthesia School in St. Louis in 1945 and worked for several years as a nurse anesthetist at Scott & White Memorial Hospital in Temple. "She was just a loving, caring, giving person," said Edna Krempin, 89, of Temple, a retired Scott & White nurse and longtime friend. "If you didn't like Esther Coleman, there was something wrong with you." After meeting Dr. Coleman, who trained as a medical intern at Scott & White, the two were married in Houston in 1946. The couple had a son, James, and a daughter, Brenda, and moved to Waco in 1955. Mrs. Coleman was a Cub Scout den mother and was active in the Parent-Teacher Association at Crestview Elementary School, including one year as president, and in PTA at Tennyson Middle School and at then-Richfield High School now Waco High School. She also took an active role in the Women's Auxiliary of the McLennan County Medical Society, for which she served as president in 1974. Additionally, Mrs. Coleman was a board member of the Evangelia Settlement, a Waco day-care center catering to economically disadvantaged families. At Herring Avenue United Methodist Church and later at First United Methodist Church in Waco, Mrs. Coleman's contributions ranged from teaching Sunday school to joining her husband in hosting visiting missionaries, sponsoring students from Jamaica and welcoming immigrant families from Europe. She also opened her home to family members who were far away from their own. "She was very good to me, and I loved her," said nephew Thomas Harris, author of the best-selling 1988 novel The Silence of the Lambs and other books. Harris, who grew up in Mississippi, stayed with the Colemans often as a child and during the summers between semesters at Baylor University, from which he graduated in 1963. "I always knew I was welcome," Harris added by telephone from Miami Beach. "She ran a wonderful home." Mrs. Coleman's sister, Edna Weiss Sebesta of Houston, preceded her in death, as did her brothers, Dan and August Weiss, both of Brenham. Her son, James A Coleman III, of Waco, died in 1998. Besides her husband and daughter, of Chicago, survivors include daughter-in-law Mary McNabb Coleman of Waco, grandson James A. "Jake" Coleman IV of Axtell, granddaughter Amy L. Martin of Waco, and great granddaughters Ellen and Emily Coleman, both of Waco. The family asks that memorial contributions be made to Aldersgate Enrichment Center, P.O. Box 1406, Brownwood, TX 76804. Remembrances may be left at Wilkirson-Hatch-Bailey Funeral Home's Web site, www.WilkirsonHatchBailey.com.