Claire K. Coleman

Claire Alice (Kohn) Coleman, 99, an influential interior design public relations executive, journalist, and founder and former president of the International Furnishing and Design Association (IFDA) passed in the early morning Saturday, March 30, 2024, at the Dartmouth Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire, of heart failure following hip replacement surgery. A resident of Manhattan, then New Rochelle, and later Scarsdale, she currently resided in Newport, New Hampshire.
Born in New Castle, PA in 1924, daughter of Louis Kohn, a Cooper Union engineering graduate who later owned Fleming Steel in New Castle, PA, and the former Florence Frank, a graduate of Hunter Normal School, now Hunter College.
Claire attended New Castle High School, and graduated from Penn State, class of 1945, with a degree in comparative literature, and was a Sigma Delta Tau sorority member. Following her graduation, she moved to New York, where she did graduate studies at Columbia University and began a long career in PR and journalism in the city.
As a market editor at Fairchild Publications (1945-48), she wrote for and edited various interior design trade publications including Home Furnishings Daily. In 1947, she founded the National Home Fashions League for women working in the interior design field, when the men's group at the time would not admit women. It is now the International Furnishing and Design Association (IFDA), a large trade association with chapters around the world. She later served as national president, in addition to other board and New York chapter roles.
Claire also worked for The New York Times where she was an assistant to the interior design editor in the women's news department (what was then called the "Women's Page" 1949-50), before moving to Chicago to become public relations director for United Wallpaper (1950-53).
She then moved back to New York to become the public relations director for Associated American Artists (1953-54), a well-known New York art gallery founded in 1934 that played a significant role in the growth of art as an industry. It was through this job that a life-long passion for collecting art began to grow, later with a particular fondness for Asian art and that of Japan in particular.
Moving on to department head and director of public relations at various agencies in New York, Claire had a long career in interior design public relations, marketing, and promotion with clients in the US and around the globe. She produced innovative and successful campaigns for clients such as Burlington Industries; Hunter Douglas; American of Martinsville; and James David Furniture. She helped transform 41 Madison Avenue into the New York Merchandise Mart and helped launch the Philadelphia Marketplace. Claire was recognized by IFDA with its Circle of Excellence Award in 1994 and National Honorary Recognition Award in 1998. O'Dwyer's honored her in 1992 with its Executive Achievement Award, and New York Women's Agenda awarded her its Galaxy Award in 1997. Claire was president of the foundation of Women Executives in Public Relations (WEPR) (1993-94); and president of WEPR (1996-97), in addition to many other executive and board positions with the group. And Mayor Mike Bloomberg proclaimed May 8, 2012 as Claire Coleman Day in New York City.
In 1956, she met and married Frederick Coleman, a successful textile executive (who predeceased her in 2014) and together they resided on Riverside Drive in Manhattan. They had two boys, Franklin (Antoinette), of McLean, Virginia (Samuel, Daniel, Benjamin, and Abigail) and Elliot (Patrice) of Weathersfield, Vermont (Aiden). She is also survived by a number of nieces and nephews, whom she loved.
After World War II, she briefly lived in Switzerland and, later, along with her younger sister she traveled across Europe, Greece and Turkey. It sparked a passion for travel, and during the course of her life, she visited scores of countries and seven continents with her husband. Together they built an interesting and diverse art collection, including a museum quality collection of Asian water droppers used for calligraphy, which reflected her sophisticated tastes.
Claire had many life-long friendships both personal and professional, including with Times Food critic Mimi Sheraton, which began when they first worked together. She was also friends with James Beard, and later assisted him in preparing the cookbook for Adelai Stevenson's presidential campaign.
Moving to New Rochelle, New York in 1960, Claire was also active in civic affairs, serving as president of the local parent teacher association (PTA); the Mayor's Advisory Council on Education; the school district's Critical Assessments Central Steering Committee; and President of the Beechmont Association among other roles.
Claire was also passionate about classical music, opera, and ballet, and was a long-time subscriber to the NY Philharmonic, also regularly attending performances of the NY ballet and the Metropolitan Opera. She was also a member of Temple Israel of New Rochelle, where her husband was on the board; a member of the Scarsdale Women's Club; and Chairman of the Women's division of the city's United Jewish Appeal.
Memorial Service and Interment at Sharon Gardens, Valhalla, New York, Tuesday, April 2,
1:30 PM.