She Doesn’t Like My Soup

By KIMBERLY DAVIS Times Leader Correspondent
Tuesday, February 08, 2000     Page: 5

After 50 years, she can tell him to stay out of the kitchen
   
“We’re a 50-50 proposition,” Bob Coleman says. And all indications point
to the fact that this is the secret to a long and happy marriage. After 50
years together, Bob and June Coleman of Wright Township are still enjoying
each other’s company. Together the Colemans attend meetings of the Happy
Group at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, the Leisure Group of Crestwood Area
Community Education and the Aid Association of Lutherans. Every Sunday they go
out to dinner with friends, and they enjoy playing parlor games in their spare
time. Rummikube, dominoes and Greedy are their favorites. Around the house,
Bob pitches in with the chores. “Sometimes he cooks,” June says, “but I’d
rather he just help.” Bob laughs and explains: “She doesn’t like my soup. I
put everything but the kitchen sink in my soup.” The Colemans have lived in
Mountaintop all their lives. They attended school together but weren’t really
interested in each other then. Some time after they graduated, Bob and June
met on New Year’s Eve. Bob was managing a band at a club in West Wyoming, and
they reacquainted with each other there. The magic started that night, and
they were married a little more than a year later, on St. Patrick’s Day, March
17, 1949, by the Rev. Schuster at the old St. Paul’s Lutheran Church. St.
Paul’s has played a big part in the lives of the Colemans. June was baptized
and confirmed at the church, and Bob, who was Methodist, joined after their
marriage. They brought up their children in the church and had their 50th
anniversary blessing there in March. “We renewed our vows,” June explains.
“I don’t think anyone has ever done that at St. Paul’s before.” The
Colemans have two daughters, Margaret Drum London of Forty Fort and Linda
Prushinski of the Honey Pot section of Nanticoke. They also have the bragging
rights to five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, all of whom are
featured on their wall of family portraits. Volunteer work also has been
important to the Colemans. Bob has been president of the Mountaintop Ambulance
Association and volunteered for the American Red Cross. He and June both help
out with activities and fund-raisers at their church, including hoagie sales,
the food bank and mailings. Millwork was Bob’s calling. He worked for Robbins
Door and Sash until 1982 and then Morgan Millwork until his retirement in
1988. Now he uses his talent to work for June. Furniture and picture frames
he has made in his workshop grace their living room, and a curio cabinet is
the centerpiece of their home. To it June adds the keepsakes and memories and,
of course, a collage of treasured family photos.