A few words about a good man

[stickman]

Coleman Whitcomb passed away 05/03/2003 at DCH Regional Medical Center in Tuscaloosa. He was in the hospital recuperating from injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident one week prior. His condition seemed to be improving. He had been moved from the ICU to a room out on the floor. Suddenly, he was gone.

I met Coleman when I came here back in 1988. He was a radio operator and jailer at the Marengo County Jail when I came here. I talked to him many times on the radio when we were responding to calls out in the county. He was always very knowledgeable of the county and was good at getting us where we needed to go. When I had the opportunity, I would stop in at the county jail and chat with Coleman, Dan Pritchett, Frank Watts, Kevin McKinney, and some of the other people who manned the jail in Linden.

I also got to know Coleman's wife Amanda. She was working in ICU at the hospital in Demopolis as an LPN at the time. I can remember when she went back to school and got her RN license. She's a really good nurse, takes good care of her patients and always has a smile on her face everytime I've ever seen her.

Later, Coleman left the Marengo County Jail and took a job as a Police Communications Operator with the Alabama Department of Public Safety (State Troopers) at the Demopolis Post. Coleman performed his job superbly while at the Demopolis Trooper Post. A couple of years later, the State, in it's infinite wisdom, decided to shut down the Demopolis Trooper Post. Coleman transferred to the Tuscaloosa Trooper Post and continued to work the communications center for the State Troopers. After Coleman transferred to Tuscaloosa, I didn't see him much anymore. He drove from his home on County Road 44 just north of Linden to Tuscaloosa on the days he was scheduled to work. I think sometimes he even stayed in Tuscaloosa away from his family because the lengthy drive and the work schedule took it's toll on Coleman. The funny thing about it is, I don't think he ever complained, at least not to my knowledge. Coleman loved his job, loved helping people, and took great care of the Officers he was responsible for while on his shift.

Life was not always easy for Coleman. God saw fit to throw him a few obstacles along the way. Coleman had kidney trouble. The first time around, his kidneys failed him. His sister gave Coleman one of her kidneys so that he could live without having to be hooked up to a dialysis machine. This worked for a few years, but I think he had been having trouble with his kidney again and was on the verge of having to either go on dialysis, or have another kidney transplant. Then the car accident happened. We got several phone calls the day of the wreck. Coleman was on his way home from work in Tuscaloosa. A car ran a stop sign or red light and hit Coleman's car. It broke him up pretty good. Surgery was required to put him back together. From what I was told, the doctors gave him a 50/50 chance of surviving the surgery. Coleman made it through and seemed to be on his way to recovery.

I guess God decided it was time for Coleman to come home. He passed away suddenly on May 3rd, 2003. We got several phone calls that afternoon around 2pm telling us he was gone. The word travelled far and wide. I went to the funeral home to pay my respects to Coleman and his family tonight. I don't know how many people were there before me, but when I arrived at O'Bryant's Chapel in Linden around 7:15 pm, there were cars lined up and down both sides of the road for a block in each direction. There was a line of people out the door of the funeral home waiting to go in to pay their respects and say a few comforting words to the family. There were so many people who had come to say their goodbyes. It was truly amazing to see just how many people's lives Coleman Whitcomb had touched in one way or another!

I just want to say that Coleman Whitcomb was one of the finest individuals I have ever had the pleasure of crossing paths with on the road of life. He was a hard working man, a loving husband and father. I am sure that in the days to come, he will be greatly missed.

Stickman