Nowata Star
126 E. Cherokee St.
Nowata, OK 74048
January 10, 2001
Permission for archiving obituaries given by Phillip Reid, Publisher

Funeral services for Paralee Theresa Coleman, 94, Tulsa who died Sunday, December 31, 2000 were held Saturday, January 6, 2001 in the Vernon A.M.E. Church in Tulsa. Interment followed in Woodlawn Cemetery in Claremore under the direction of Dyer Memorial Chapel of Tulsa.

Paralee was born in Monticello, Arkansas on September 3, 1906 the first of nine children of John and Anna Davis Coleman. As a girl she received her nickname "Pal" from her mother for being her mother's "little pal" as she helped her mother with the younger children. The name stuck with Paralee for the rest of her ninety-four years of service to her family, church, neighbors, friends and community.

Pal graduated from high school in Claremore and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in education from Langston University. Graduate studies were completed at Columbia University in New York City, Northeastern State University and Oklahoma A&M College (later known as Oklahoma State University).

In 1928, Pal started her teaching career at the "brand new all brick" Stowe High School in Pawhuska. It was there that she pioneered a "team-teaching strategy".

For forty-one years, Pal was a dedicated, innovative, high-school teacher. A strong advocate of parental involvement, Pal frequently served as a mentor for both the parents and their children, motivating entire families to adopt goals of excellence.

In 1952, while teaching in Nowata, she fullfilled her dream of motherhood by adopting a baby boy that she named Cornelius Irving Coleman.

Following her retirement from the Nowata Public Schools, Pal became a volunteer for over thirteen separate organizations providing assistance for elementary school students to specialized interventions during the Special Olympic for the Blind. Both the March of Dimes and the American Cancer Society have benefited from Pal's unselfish service. Paralee was a member of the NAACP, Urban League, American Red Cross, Women's Club and she served on the Board of Directors for R.S.V.P. and the Y.W.C.A. She was a founder and Director of the Heritage Hills Meals on Wheels program providing over twenty years of service to the disabled and elderly residents in North Tulsa. In 1985, Ms. Coleman received a Presidential Citation, awarded at the White House in the Rose Garden, in recognition of her humanitarian work in the public service. Pal had been chosen teacher of the year at Nowata Public School, "Woman of the Year" by the Northeast Region of the Federated Colored Women's Club. Pal has been honored as an outstanding Alumna by Langston University. She was a Golden Life Member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and received numerous awarads from a variety of religious, social and civic groups throughout the state.

Paralee accepted Christ at an early age. For over 80 years, she was involved in so many church activities that she laughingly said "I have served in almost every capacity except that of pastor." Over the years Pal was a member of the Bethel A.M.E. Church in Claremore, Visitors Chapel A.M.E. Church in Nowata and more recently Vernon A.M.E. Church in Tulsa.

Ms. Coleman was preceded in death by her father, mother, two sisters: Guthrie Jackson and Daisy Smith; three brothers: Othella Coleman, Chandler Coleman and "Baby Coleman" who died shortly after birth.

She leaves as survivors her son: Cornelius Coleman; four grandchildren: Keith, Cornelius H, Nicholas and LeAnn Coleman; two brothers: Joe Coleman and Crawford Williams; a sister, Jean Walker and a host of nieces and nephews; a multitude of former students and dear friends.