Harlis Coleman, died on August 16, 2022 at the home of his family in Cedar Hill, Texas, after a brief illness.

Mr. Coleman was born on September 13, 1935, in McVeigh, Kentucky to Frank and Annie Coleman. He was the third of five children. He grew up in the coal mining area of Pike County, where he and his siblings worked on the family farm.

Mr. Coleman went to McVeigh Elementary, where he met Barbara Jean Coleman in the fifth grade. At 14, he got his first official job at the Piggly Wiggly. In his senior year of high school, he got a car, which enabled him to begin dating Barbara Jean. In 1954, he graduated from Pikeville High School.

At 19, he began working at B & L Furniture store, where Barbara Coleman was also employed. They then were married on January 31, 1957 in McAndrews, Kentucky, On the day of their wedding, the surrounding area flooded, and Mr. Coleman's parents and brothers could not make it to the church. Barbara Coleman's parents, Boyce and Margaret Coffey, were able to attend, along with Mr. Coleman's sisters and several other guests. His youngest sister was a bridesmaid. The bride's sister was the maid of honor.

In 1959, Harlis and Barbara moved with their one-year-old daughter, Barbara Ann, to Alexandria, Virginia, for better employment opportunities. Mr. Coleman was to begin working at a new Grand Union grocery when it opened. While waiting for the store to open, he took a job as a Washington, D.C. Metro bus driver. Not knowing the area, he relied on his passengers to tell him where to turn.

At Grand Union, he started as a produce clerk, became a manager, and then a supervisor, where he was sent to open new stores or fix poor performers. It was during this time, in 1962, that he and his wife welcomed their second daughter, Patricia Lynn.

In 1972, he decided he would open his own roadside market in Annandale. It started with three walls, a roof, and a chain-link fence to secure it at night. In the first years, the market would close for the winter, and Mr. Coleman would work as a house painter. Over the years, Mr & Mrs.Coleman's market became a staple in the community; it introduced the quiet suburb to new varieties of fruits & produce, was a little league sponsor, and gave many Thomas Jefferson High School students their first job. It had a diverse clientele that included congressmen, senators, and the occasional Washington footballer. For several years at the start of the holiday season, Mr. Coleman would be visited by an embassy staffer who wanted to barter vodka for Christmas trees. Mr. Coleman did not drink, but enjoyed the opportunity of a story to tell.

In 1985, Mr. & Mrs. Coleman closed their market and moved to Amissville, Virginia. Mr. Coleman worked at Prince William county farmers markets from that time until his retirement in 2018, at the age of 82. Mrs. Coleman began working at her family's market in Warrenton, Virginia, and did so until she and Mr. Coleman moved to live with their daughter and her family in Cedar Hill, TX in December 2021.

Coleman was preceded in death by his oldest daughter, Barbara Ann Coleman, in 2018, as well as his parents and siblings in prior years.

He is survived by his wife of 65 years, daughter, son-in-law, two grandchildren, and several family members and friends. A warm and gregarious presence in many lives, he will be dearly missed.