Bob Coleman
Bob Cooper Coleman Sr., a member of the family that founded Coleman Dairy in Little Rock, died Friday at the age of 62.
Coleman worked for 44 years at Coleman Dairy, which was established in Little Rock in 1862, sold to a dairy cooperative in 1995, and in 2006 became a division of Hiland, owned by Prairie Farms of Carlinville, Illinois.
Coleman served on the boards of the Recovery Centers of Arkansas and the Arkansas State Fair and was a past president of the Little Rock Executive Association.
Coleman, head chef of the Coleman Cooking Team, also was active with the Arkansas Hospitality Association. In 2013, he received the Maurice E. Lewis Lifetime Achievement Award from the AHA, an award established in 1995 to recognize AHA members who have given 20 or more years of outstanding service to the association. At the time, he was one of only five recipients of the honor.
Coleman also was a member of the AHA Hall of Fame and served as a judge at the Arkansas Hospitality Association Culinary Classic competition.
In January, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock announced that it would build a new baseball field and expand its sports complex thanks to a donation from the Coleman family, which was giving the university nearly 8 acres in the area of the University Village Apartments and UALR’s Coleman Sports & Recreation Complex. A previous 10-acre donation by the Colemans in 2010 cleared the way for UALR to build the complex, which it named for the family.
Bob Coleman was preceded in death by his parents, Buddy and Robbye Coleman. He is survived by his wife of 41 years, Beverly; his son Bob Jr. and his wife, Sarah; his three brothers, Walt (Cynthia), Charlie (Patti) and Cherb (Connie); and his in-laws Pete Baird (Becky) and Berta Ward (Phil). He is also survived by a host of nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews.
A memorial service will be held at Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church at 11 a.m. Tuesday, with a reception to follow in the Great Hall at the church.
Coleman’s full obituary can be read online at Smith-North Little Rock Funeral Home.
Sign up for Daily E-news
