Howard "Sonny" E. Coleman

He is being buried at Carolina Memorial Funeral Home next to his wife and Father. Relatives and friends are invited to attend his funeral service at 2:00 pm Friday. April 10, 2026, at Carolina Memorial Funeral Home, 7113 Rivers Ave, North Charleston 29406. Burial with military honors will follow in Carolina Memorial Gardens. The family will receive friends from 1:00 pm until the time of service on Friday.

Born in Detroit, MI on July 15, 1930, Sonny was raised in Greenville, SC, but spent the last 77 years in the Lowcountry. It was a place he loved with all his heart. A proud Air-Force Veteran and Freemason, he was a member of Circular Congregational Church downtown for many years, and then a longtime member of Cherokee United Methodist Church during the second half of his life. He was a true Christian. He walked the walk and talked the talk. His word was his bond. He owned and operated Coleman's Automotive Center and Body Shop in North Charleston for 33 years. He later owned and operated Coleman's Sandblasting well into his 80's. He was a pillar of the community, and an exemplary citizen.

He was a devoted Husband to his beloved wife Christine for 62 years, until he lost her in 2018. He was also THE best Father, Grandfather, and Great-Grandfather anyone could ever hope to have. He loved his family more than anything else in the world and expressed his love through both words and actions every single day of his life. His passion and appreciation for life were as fierce as his love for them. He saw beauty everywhere and felt things deeply. He had an immense compassion for every living creature, and he was kind, honest, gentle, and fair to everyone he met. The glass was always half-full with him, never half empty. He was adventurous, funny, artistic, and could make, build, repair or invent almost anything. He taught us everything we know, and most conversations began with, "I just got back from Sellar's Hardware Store," where he was a much-loved customer. He always had his toolbox close by. He also had a beautiful singing voice and was in the choir in his youth. He worked hard his entire life, beginning as a child when he was 7 years old and delivered newspapers in the frigid winters of 1930's Greenville. He was an inspiration to his family.

A true survivor, Sonny fought so hard to live and was thankful for each day on this Earth. Every morning he would tell his daughter on the phone, "I'm still here. I get another day." In 2023, an oak tree fell on his home. Though he was severely injured and his home of nearly 70 years destroyed, along with almost all of his belongings, his love of life, his Faith, and his hope for the future never wavered. His dream was to live to be 100. He didn't quite make it, but he lived each moment with gratitude, passion, hope, and love. He always said he was going to stay alive as long as he could for his family.

He loved reading the newspaper in the morning outside with his coffee, sitting on his bench in the evenings with a glass of wine, listening to music and talking to his family or the neighbors, and working in his garage every chance he got. He loved being at the beach more than anything. He talked to his daughter at least twice a day on the phone, every single day of her life. They were best friends. His son was his devoted caregiver and companion until the very end. He taught his children and grandchildren how to fish and play pool. He taught his Grandson how to play baseball. He taught his granddaughter how to paint, and loved dancing, laughing, and walking downtown with her. He loved each of them immensely. Not a single day went by in their life when he didn't talk to them or tell them he loved them. He was our whole world, our anchor, our rock, our protector.....as we were his. We will miss him every single day of our lives. We simply cannot fathom a world without him in it. We will miss the mischievous twinkle in his eyes when he smiled....which was all of the time. We will miss his laughter, his hugs, and his immense intelligence and wisdom. Most of all, we will miss the depth of love he had for us.

He is survived by his devoted daughter, Tina Coleman Young, his son Derek Coleman, his Granddaughter Lindsay Young, and Grandson Coleman Young/ Granddaughter-In-Law Ashley Young, and his Great-Grandchildren William & Adalyn Young.

He was the Greatest man....the greatest person.....we ever knew or could ever hope to know, and the world is less without him in it. There are no words that could encapsulate all he was, or how much he meant to each of us. We are devastated by his loss but comforted by the love that we shared for each other. He always said that everything he did for his family was, "A Labor of love," as taking care of him in his final years was for them. In truth, there are not enough words, not enough space, to encompass everything he was as a person, or what he meant to us.

"I'll find you in the morning sun, and when the night is new, I'll be looking at the moon, but I'll be seeing you."