John (j. 3/1957; d. 2011) and Gertie Coleman (j. 7/1960; d. 2006) were involved at All Souls in many ways. John was a past Board vice president (1969) who taught Sunday School for many years, chaired the Publications Committee (1976), and served on the Reeb Memorial Committee. John also served on the Ministerial Search Committee that recommended Rev. Dan Aldridge. Gertie was the head usher and ushered well into her 70s and also served on the Beckner Advancement Fund Committee.
John had a long illustrious government career as a statistician. In 1951, after a graduate internship at American University, John worked on President Harry S. Truman’s Commission on the Health Needs of the Nation. Between 1952 and 1969, he worked as a statistician for the US Army Surgeon General’s Office, the US Office of Education, and the Internal Revenue Service. He later moved to the Civil Service Commission, now OPM, to become chief of the Manpower Statistics Division. And in 1972, he served as a special assistant in the Office of Survey and Design within the Bureau of Labor Statistics, later retiring in 1979 as chief of the Statistical Methods Division.
John received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Howard University in 1948 and a master’s degree in economics from American University in 1953. He was a lifetime member of the American Statistical Association, American Bridge Association, Contract Bridge League, and Neighbors, Inc.
According to his obituary in the Afro American newspaper, John grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and was raised in the Holiness Church.