BEVERLY: Carson C. Coleman, 61, died February 8, 2008 in Waterford, Ireland following a ten month battle with cancer. He was surrounded by his loving family who had taken care of him during his courageous struggle.
Born in Beverly, he was the son of the late Carson and Mary (Silke) Coleman. He attended St. Margaret's School in Beverly Farms and Bishop Fenwick High School. He served in the United States Marine Corps during the Vietnam War.
As a young man he was a member of the St. Mary's Crusaders Drum & Bugle Corps and was elevated to the St. Mary's Cardinals Drum & Bugle Corps in 1960.
In 1972 Carson moved to Florida after vacationing there with a group of drum corps friends. While in Florida he earned a degree in horticulture, which would become his only profession intil his retirment four years ago.
During Carsons life, the drum & bugle corps stayed close to his heart. He marched with a number of senior drum corps in Massachusetts and Connecticut. He recieved the Nomeskal Humanitarian Award and was inducted into the Massachusetts Hall of Fame of Drum & Bugle Corps and in 2002, he and his cousin marched with St. Kevin's Alumni Corps in Providence, Rhode Island, as they had forty years earlier. That was a proud moment for Carson.
His lifelong friends never let the distance between Massachusetts and Florida change their frinedships. He always had someone visiting from the northeast. His home became "The Do Drop In" Motel and he never knew how many were coming. One time he was told that seven people were coming to West Palm Beach and twelve showed up. Carson managed to put them all up.
After several trips to Ireland over the years, Carson decided to move and make Waterford his base. He had many relatives in Galway, so he really had two homes. He was only there for a few months when the news came that he had cancer. His decision to stay there during his battle was an easy one for him. When asked if he wanted to come home for treatments, he replied, "I am home".
His family and friends state side kept in touch with him weekly and he loved to talk. He wanted to know everything. Who was doing what, what was going on in the drum corps world, how much snow we were getting and who won the Beverly - Salem football game.
After his death, family members from Galway traveled to Waterford to pick up Carson for the last time and buried him in the "Silke" family plot beside his grandparents. He is survived by alarge clan of Irish cousins in Waterford, Galway and the United States, as well as a vast number of life long friends.
A memorial service will be held on Monday, February 18th in the Grondin Funeral Home, 376 Cabot Street, Beverly at 11 a.m. Relatives and friends are cordially invited to attend. For more information and to send onlince condolences, please visit www.grondinfuneralservices.com.