Boys & Girls Town leader dies

Coleman was regional vice president for the southwest region for the organization. A successor has not been named, and steps have not yet been taken to replace Coleman, said Marie McGeehan, director of communications.

Coleman held the regional vice president position since March and oversaw development of all regional programs for Boys and Girls Town of Missouri. He came to the organization in 1981, when it was called Springfield Children’s Home, and served as recreation director.

In 2001, Coleman opened the $2 million Ozarks Family Resource Center in Springfield – a project he came up with four years earlier after hearing about a shortage of emergency shelter beds in the area. He enlisted the help of other community leaders and met with state legislators to gain funding. The facility has sheltered more than 500 Greene County children who were removed from their homes in crisis situations.

Coleman was active in the Missouri Coalition of Children’s Agencies, the Foster Grandparent Advisory Council, Division of Youth Services Community Liaison Council, Child Welfare League of America and Alliance for Children and Families. He also served as president of the National Fellowship of Child Care Executives.