Gary Gene Coleman

Born December 15, 1940, in Kansas City, Missouri, Coleman was the son of Margaret and Eugene B. Coleman.

Gary Coleman graduated with honors in 1964 from the University of Missouri at Kansas City, earning a bachelor's degree in pharmacy.

A lifelong entrepreneur, he began delivering newspapers as a boy and launched his first business while still in college.

With his first wife, Anne, Coleman co-owned Green Cross Pharmacy in Lenexa, Kansas. After selling the pharmacy in 1970, he became director of nursing home services for McDaniels Pharmacies, overseeing drug and related services for 12 nursing homes. In 1982, with the help of commercial realtor and friend Richard Barnes, he purchased Northside Family Prescription Center in Topeka, later renaming it Northside RX Family Healthmart.

In 1987, the Kansas Pharmacist Association named Coleman "Pharmacist of the Year." He also served as president of the Prescription Network of Kansas, an organization representing more than 350 pharmacies.

An avid world traveler and certified National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI) scuba diver, Coleman also enjoyed recreational hunting and fishing.

Gary said he was "blessed by the Lord" when he married his second wife and "love of my life," Caroline, in 2006 at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, where the couple were longtime members and served as greeters. He sang as a tenor in the church choir for five years.

Coleman and Caroline were happily married for 20 years, and he left a note expressing his "gratitude and love" for the "cherished memories and faithful bond" they shared. In addition to his wife, Coleman is survived by his daughter, Leslie, and her fiancé Randy; son, Steven; daughter-in-law, Kim; sister, Jeannine, and her husband, Joseph; grandsons, Zachary, Tanner, Daxton and Tyler; granddaughter-in-law, Aimee; great-grandchildren, Beckham and Elaina; stepdaughter Cynthia and her husband Christopher. He was preceded in death by his former wife.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations made in Gary G. Coleman's name to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital.