Joyce L. Coleman, 62
Joyce L. Coleman, a nurse’s aide and an expert scallop-shucker, died on Dec. 29 at home on Spring Lane in Sag Harbor. Her family said the cause was a pulmonary embolism. She was 62.
Ms. Coleman worked for many years taking care of residents at the Huntting Lane Rest Home in East Hampton Village. She later went to work at the Todd Nursing Home in Southampton, which became the Southampton Nursing Home.
During scallop season she took her place at the shucking tables for Calvin Lester and Brent Bennett and was known as one of the fastest in all of Bonac at cutting the sweet morsels from their shells.
Ms. Coleman sang in several church choirs and was a volunteer emergency medical technician with the ambulance company of the Springs Fire Department. She loved cooking and had won ribbons at the Riverhead County Fair for her pies. She also enjoyed reading, writing poetry, crossword puzzles, and crocheting, making many blankets for friends and loved ones.
She was born at Southampton Hospital on May 15, 1952, to Leona Faye King Smith and Bruno Kappi, and grew up in a house on Abraham’s Path in East Hampton.
When she was 15 she met Robert H. Coleman of Mystic, Conn., who became her best friend, bringing a bicycle on three ferry rides to visit her. They were married on Aug. 9, 1969, at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in East Hampton. Her family said the couple “represented what true love really means, always by each other’s side, through thick and thin.”
They had four daughters, Dawn Marie Coleman Moyer of Sag Harbor, Catherine Faye Coleman Benton of Springs, Bobbi Jo Coleman, who died in 1975, and Bobbi Rene Coleman Edwards of Springs. She is also survived by eight grandchildren, who, her family said, meant the world to her.
In addition to her immediate family, she is survived by two sisters, Maureen Semb of East Hampton and Sharon King of Springs, and many nieces and nephews.
“Her generous heart filled her home with love, fun, family, and friends, including an attitude that there was always room for one more,” her family said. “She leaves her husband, children, and grandchildren with the knowledge that they were truly loved.”
She was very close to her extended family, which included her in-laws, Terry and Benjamin Coleman and Rachel and Della Pinkham of Connecticut, and Kenneth Coleman of Mastic.
Memorial donations have been suggested to the Springs Fire Department, 179 Fort Pond Boulevard, East Hampton 11937.
A service was held on Friday at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton.