I Am Wilshire – Bob Coleman.
Hometown: Vernon, Texas, ages 2 to 12; Abilene, 8th grade through college
Education: Abilene Christian College, B.A. (1964); University of Texas Law School, J.D. with Honors (1968)
Present city: Dallas (Lakewood)
Tell us about your family.
Father: Clint Coleman, owned a small grocery store in Vernon until 1953; in insurance thereafter; died 1987. Mother: Genevieve (“Genny”) Ross, homemaker; died 1991; Older brother, Lynn, attorney; died 2020. Married Judy Moore, Sept. 7, 1963. Children: Robert Jr., lives in University Park; Claire, married to Dr. Ollie Mong, a psychiatrist. Grandchildren: Genevieve, 16, Anson, 13, and Finnigan, soon to be 10. They live a mile from us in Lakewood.
Tell us about your work or volunteer life.
Clerked for a federal judge in Montgomery, Alabama (1968-69); moved to Atlanta, Georgia, in 1969 and worked for one of the major firms. Moved to Dallas in 1975 and practiced with several firms, mostly defending accounting firms. On the board of Mi Escuelita Preschool and Texans Care for Children, a nonprofit policy group.
Where are you engaged at Wilshire?
Served on and chaired Personnel, Finance and Risk Management Committees. Served on Missions and Advocacy Committees. Deacon, now inactive; chair of deacons, 2006. Now on Personnel Committee and Pastor Search Committee.
What surprised you most about Wilshire?
I don’t know any church that has done what Wilshire has done. Bruce McIver, through Phil Strickland, fought the fundamentalist takeover of the SBC and helped form the CBF. George has led us in adapting to the needs of Christians here and everywhere.
What do you think God is up to in your life right now?
I turned 80 on March 1. I help the pastoral residents in their job searches, and serving on the Pastor Search Committee is God’s work at its highest for me.
Tell us about your faith journey.
I was at the Church of Christ in Vernon three times a week and was baptized on a Sunday night in June 1952. When Judy and I were dating, we attended both her and my church nearly every Sunday. When we married at First Baptist Abilene, our parents were concerned about who would win the denominational divide. I felt our marriage was blessed when both my minister and her pastor with their wives came through the receiving line at the reception together. We didn’t go to church very often in Austin or Atlanta. Back in Dallas, Judy resolved the issue, with maybe the best decision we ever made.
- If you’d like to be featured in “I Am Wilshire,” email Carolyn Murray at cmurray@wilshirebc.org.