as we continue to honor Black History Month we here at at news are highlighting impactful figures from right here in the Twin tiar well yes sha and some may know him as Floyd Coleman or Winston Coleman Jr a father a brother a Navy veteran the longest serving elk but even more a big influence to the black community in almyra and his journey started over 90 years ago at what used to be called The Neighborhood House Floyd Winston Coleman Jr was born on March 21st 1924 and among his four I Lings he
was the oldest brother of Green Pastures Howard Coleman the neighborhood house it it was our savior you know what I mean you got to remember we come up during the Depression and at the neighbor house they had all kinds of activities for us all you all I had to do is go across the street Coleman graduated from almyra Free Academy and was always known for his strength wit and passion to serve 2 years 7 months and 28 days to Bea yeah Coleman served during World War II in the US Navy from 1943 to 19
46 earning the rank of second class petty officer and the fifth most fit in his unit of 138 men back when he was serving it was still segregated um and he scored the highest on the test for the officer test but because he was black he wasn't afforded that opportunity to uh move up in ranking and pursue um other opportunities in the Navy that he would have liked to um even though he scored higher than of his counterparts Coleman aspired to be a HomeTown hero and notice most of the veterans were w
hite Coleman's longtime friend Christine Atkins made sure he received the same recognition I got in contact with the people who who put up the banners there was a waiting list so um my friend was able to FasTrack that but it was really important for him to have African-American black representation in this city in terms of the veterans and and who people would see when they look at those banners after returning home Coleman met his wife Sarah Jackson Coleman and together had three kids Coleman w
orked at Remington ran for 26 years and later began his employment of 15 years at the almyra Psychiatric Center where he retired but retirement did not stop him from wanting to keep busy he was all about family he loved his family I remember um growing up and I would volunteered by dad to take me and my friends to the mus powers to can DEA you know he was just so caring to so many other children too and there nothing he would do for his children his grandchildren nces and nephews I mean he was j
ust the best father after retiran Coleman was active in supporting his family and his beloved Elks for 25 years holding the title of the longest serving Grand District Deputy for Central New York he's received many awards at the age of 99 Coleman drove himself to the National alks Convention in Baltimore Maryland where he was recognized as the oldest active alks member in the world a lot of people don't know this and I'm going to share this but right there work two full-time jobs to keep the fam
ily going to give us the very best so his work ethics was phenomenal Coleman took up two part-time jobs with the US Census buau and Barton senior facility for many years one of my favorite that I always remember from him is he told me one time well you never saw Brink's truck you know following a hearse and it's like you hold on to yes money is important and you need it but it's like you know don't be too tight with it either and you know give generously and he lived by that too if you ever need
ed anything like people would always come to him and he would give you the shirt off his back whatever he had Coleman was known for having the memory of an elephant as he often referred back to Memories throughout his life Journey he passed away peacefully on January 3rd 2024 leaving behind a legacy of Integrity generosity and determination Coleman was featured in the documentary 300 miles to Freedom recording the life of Jon Jones which will be used in the almyra public school system somebody a
sked him a similar question you know how he lived so long and he said he never smoked anything from corn silk to crack and I didn't even know what corn silk was but you know just keeping he enjoyed food and stuff but also taking care of your body and staying active he would always say you know even after he retired he still took on a second job not out of necessity but just to keep active he also continued to support the black community Through many organizations he was a member of the almyra Co
rning branch of the NAACP which presented him with the Lifetime Achievement Award for his dedicated service and often participated in Corning Community College events during Black History Month his motto was let life flow and he just took everything with this sense of equinity and acceptance whether it was you know he lost his son and obviously he lost his wife and other friends and family members but he just accepted things not in a way of like giving up but just knowing that not everything las
t in 2023 June 24th was proclaimed Winston Coleman day in the almyra community for his selfless commitment throughout the years get to knowbody there what's the love everybody has such respect and admiration for my dad and I even heard someone say to me he was closer to me like a dad than he my own dad now that's something to say my dad was my hero what can I what more can I he was my hero I think he will just serve as one of those people like Ernie Davis who young black myons can look up to and
can sort of think about you know setting the bar higher for themselves because of these great men and women who came before them
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