Tracy Carlisle Coleman Jr.

Tracy Carlisle Coleman, Jr., 80, of Crownsville passed away peacefully on April 8, 2025, after a long battle with dementia. Born in Baltimore to Tracy Coleman Sr. and Virginia Ijams Coleman, Tracy attended the University of Maryland College Park, graduating in 1968 with a degree in Industrial Education. He joined the Army in the fall of 1968 and was initially stationed in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri (or Fort Lost in the Woods in the Great State of Misery, according to Tracy). He was deployed to Vietnam, where he worked as a Communications Specialist. After returning home, he worked as an Assistant Superintendent at Coleman & Wood Construction. Although Tracy always said he never wanted to see the inside of a school again, his big sister Anne Chambers convinced him to help her build her dream – Indian Creek School. He stayed there for almost 40 years, serving as Indian Creek's Director of Physical Plant & Transportation. He oversaw the construction of Indian Creek's new campus in 2006 before retiring in 2011.
In addition to his work at Indian Creek, Tracy was also an avid fan of cars, boats, and planes (real planes and model airplanes) – pretty much anything that could go fly or go fast! He participated in boat racing until 1978 and began taking flying lessons in 1980. Tracy was also a lover of all animals, but especially dogs. He never met a stray he wouldn't take in, much to his wife's dismay. At one point, when the family already had 4 dogs, Tracy's wife said she had better not see a fifth one come through the door. Tracy is predeceased by his parents and older sister, Anne Coleman Chambers. He is survived by his wife Suzanne Coleman, daughter Amy Coleman, daughter Kate Coleman-Meyer and her husband Chris, son Tracy Coleman III and his wife Theresa, and granddaughter Grace Meyer.
There will be a memorial gathering at Hardesty Funeral Home in Gambrills on Friday, April 11 from 5:00-7:00pm. A private interment of ashes will be at a later date. In lieu of flowers, if anyone would like to make a donation in Tracy's name, we suggest the Senior Dog Sanctuary of Maryland (https://www.seniordogsanctuary.com/). If all dogs go to heaven, then Tracy is surely a happy man now.