Duane Coleman

Duane "Duke" Coleman, age 85, of Kalamazoo, MI was born March 12, 1931, at "New" Borgess Hospital in Kalamazoo, MI. He attended Woodward Elementary school (across the street from his birth home and his final residence 85 years later). He attended St. Augustine High School where he assisted with transcribing music for the high school orchestra. As a student he played briefly with the Bobby Davidson orchestra. He graduated high school in 1948, and then completed a course of study at the Ray Vogue School of Photography in Chicago, IL. After enlisting in the United States Air Force in 1951, Duane served as an aerial photographer, working on an early missile program at Patrick Air Force Base (which later became the control center for Cape Canaveral). He spent the bulk of his military time in Florida and the Bahamas. While in the Air Force, he led his own jazz band on weekends in the Dayton, Ohio area until he discovered that he wasn't allowed to have a "side job" while in the military! While stationed at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, he met Shirley Ann Hehr, whom he married in 1954. Duane was honorably discharged from the Air Force in 1955. He then became a draftsman at Ingersoll Borg Warner in Kalamazoo, then at Valley Metal Products in Plainwell. Most of his working career until 1994 was spent working as a contract administrator for Kingscott Associates, Inc., where he was the architect's field supervisor for the construction of schools and hospitals throughout Michigan. Duane was especially proud of his service to the board of the Kalamazoo Bach Festival, his participation in the SARA (Stuart Area) neighborhood association (where he resided for 54 years), and his membership in the Portage Senior Center bridge group. Duane is also distinguished for being the first father ever approved to chaperon a girl scout camp-out at Merrywood Camp in the Delton area. Duane was truly a renaissance man; in addition to being an avid musician, playing the saxophone and clarinet, he was a professional photographer, a rock and mineral collector, and a facetor of gems and pop bottle glass. Around 1960, he built a 30-foot sailboat and also raced star boats on Gull Lake. In later years he scaled down to build 1:100-scale ships, including "The Challenge," which was a Nautical Research Guild winner at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc, WI. He taught himself the French language in order to do proper research for another model boat project. Duane was also a classic car enthusiast (he owned three Jaguars during his lifetime), and a founding member (in 1956) of a pioneering model car racing club in Kalamazoo, Michigan, which brought slot car racing to America and later evolved into the Model Auto Racing Association (MARA). As if that didn't keep him busy enough, Duane also collected stamps (member of the Kalamazoo Stamp Club), and did counted cross stitch and tatting, for which he won several blue ribbons at the Kalamazoo County Fair. Duane "Duke" Coleman died February 18, 2017, at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. He was preceded in death by his parents, Benjamin Coleman and Emma Mara Coleman and his sister, Barbara Coleman Peters. He is survived by Shirley Ann Hehr Coleman, his wife of 63 years, and by two daughters, Lisa B. Wilson and Christine A. Rodriguez (Raul) and three grandchildren, Ian A. Wilson (Liz), Claire C. Wilson, and Isaac E. Rodriguez, as well as two great-grandchildren, Jacob Wilson and Tobey Shaffer, and many nieces and nephews, and his two cats, Thomas and Alexander. A memorial service will be held at a later date in the spring. In lieu of flowers, if you wish, please make a contribution to a charity of your choice .