Marcus Allen Coleman

Another bright star joined the skies when Marcus Allen Coleman, born to this life on February 23, 1956, moved on to his eternal home on March 1, 2024.  Marcus was hospitalized at Gun-dersen Health System in La Crosse, Wis., on January 26, due to respiratory distress.  On February 23, he was air lifted by helicopter to the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital in Madison, Wis., where he spent the last week of his life.  A true soldier, Marcus put up a valiant effort throughout the five weeks he was hospitalized, but his lungs just could not recover from an unexplainable flare of his chronic lung issues.          

Marcus was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wis.  His parents were Thurston Coleman and Mildred Mosley Sanders.  He was the oldest of five siblings.  He had a twin sister, Marcella, and three younger sisters, Claudia, Catherine and Jacqueline.  He had a very close relationship with his mother and his sisters.  Because of these early bonds, Marcus was a huge believer in respecting women and seeing them as equals.

In his early years, Marcus attended Garfield Elementary School in Milwaukee, and St. Francis Catholic School in Milwaukee and then Roosevelt Middle School.  He graduated from North Division Public High School in Milwaukee in 1975.  He signed up for the Army before graduating and left for boot camp shortly after.  

Marcus served in the U.S. Army from 1975-1978, and then reenlisted from 1980-1983.  In 1985, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps, where he served until 1989.   He often commented that the military changed his life and broadened his view of the world and the people in it.  He shared many stories about his travels and experiences during this time.  He was intensely proud to be a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps.  He was a member of the American Legion.  It was fitting that he passed in a VA Hospital, as he felt at home there and received the care deserving of a veteran.   

After his honorable discharge from the Marines, Marcus returned to Milwaukee and reconnected with family and friends.  He married Margaret Hayward in 1992; sadly she passed away in 1999.  Marcus worked as a program assistant/lead worker/liaison at the Public Defenders Office in Milwaukee from 1991-2002.  While working there full-time, Marcus attended the Milwaukee Area Technical College, where he earned a degree in Computer Information Systems (microcomputer specialist) in 2001.  

Marcus held several other interesting positions while living in Milwaukee before moving to Spring Grove, Minn., in 2011.  During his final year in Milwaukee, he worked as a veterans advocate/volunteer coordinator for a nonprofit veterans service organization known as “Dry Hootch.”  

After moving to Spring Grove, Marcus eventually connected with the La Crosse Area Veteran Mentor Program, which resulted in him being employed there as a certified community health worker/mentor for homeless veterans.  Advocating for homeless veterans was a passion and a true calling for Marcus – he never stopped caring and being concerned for them, even after he retired in 2020.       

In 2002, while working at the Public Defender’s Office in Milwaukee, Marcus met his future wife and love of his life Karen “by accident.”  Karen worked in La Crosse, Wis., at the time and was in Milwaukee for a work training.  The group she was with mistakenly thought the training was at his work location.  Marcus spent three hours helping the group unravel where they were supposed to be.  He later sent a friendly note to Karen at her work address in La Crosse, offering to show her around if she ever came back to Milwaukee.  

This meeting was truly God ordained; it resulted in a strong, always growing partnership of twenty-plus years.  The couple enjoyed living in Milwaukee from 2003-2011.  In 2011, work opportunities in La Crosse, Wis., led the couple to move back to Karen’s nearby hometown of Spring Grove, Minn.   

On October 7, 2023, Marcus and Karen were united in marriage at the Black Hammer Faith Lutheran Church in rural Spring Grove, Minn.  It was a day filled with love, joy and happiness.  They celebrated their forever love with close family and friends.

Marcus was a fun, unique man who could light up a room with his charisma.  He had a true spirit of joy and a gift for connecting with people.  If his wife lost him while they were out and about anywhere, she could often find him by listening for his distinctive deep voice chatting with whoever might be around.  Marcus was a bit of a renaissance man who had many interests and hobbies.  He loved gardening, feeding and taking care of the birds, astronomy and looking at the stars, cooking up a storm, coin and stamp collecting, researching investments, and traveling.  Despite being a Minnesota transplant and much razzing, he remained a diehard Green Bay Packer and Milwaukee Brewer fan.  

Marcus was extremely proud of his African American heritage.  He spent countless hours researching his family history on Ancestry.com and then sharing and collaborating his findings with his uncle Jimmy and uncle Bobby.  He loved the simple pleasures in life, especially going out for a good meal with family and friends, or just staying home on a cold winter day.  His three-year-old grandson Leo was the light of his life, and he was so excited to teach him about cooking, coins, and the stars.  Hardly a day went by where Marcus didn’t comment on how happy and content he felt with life.       

Marcus was preceded in death by his first wife, Margaret; his parents Thurston and Mildred, his sisters Catherine Coleman Anderson, Marcella Coleman, and Jacqueline Coleman-Rogers; and many aunts, uncles and relatives.     

Marcus will be greatly missed by his wife and soulmate Karen Coleman (Spring Grove); Karen’s son Michael Morken, his wife Shannon, and their son Leo (Woodbury, Minn. – these three truly are Marcus’ son, daughter and grandson in his heart); his sister Claudia Coleman Brewer (Milwaukee), his uncles Clinton Mosley and James Mosley (both from Milwaukee), his aunt Beverly Mosley (North Carolina), his close cousin Marlin Mosley and his family (North Carolina), nephews Kenneth Brown II and Trent Brown, niece Jennifer Coleman, sisters-and brothers-in-law Kathy and Bruce Anderson (Spring Grove), Patty and Lee Buxengard (Rollingstone, Minn.), and Sue and Randy Ellingson (Cresco, Iowa); and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends who love him dearly.  

A private committal service with full military honors will be held at the Minnesota State Veterans Cemetery – Preston, on Friday, April 5, 2024.  Pastor Leonard Liptack will officiate.  At Marcus’s request, there will be no viewing or celebration of life.  Memorials may be directed to the family or to the Center for Veterans Issues, Inc. in Milwaukee @ cvivet.org.  The family is being assisted by Roble Funeral Home at roblefuneralhome.com.           

Marcus was so loved by so many; he didn’t realize what an impact he made on those he met in this life.  He will be remembered and missed every day.  Semper Fi my love.  I love you deeply, and in the fullness of time I will see you again.