Coleman Hall dedicated in honor of vital members of Wingate community

By Chuck Gordon

Byrns and Alice Coleman met as colleagues at Wingate Junior College in the early 1960s and, as Wingate President Dr. Rhett Brown said, "fell in love, married, unpacked their bags in Wingate and essentially never left."

Byrns taught religion at Wingate for over five decades, with Alice, who left Wingate shortly after their marriage and became a successful public-school educator, lending plenty of support. Byrns passed away in 2024, and Alice died in 2025, but their legacy will live on in the form of a South Village residence hall that bears their name.On Sunday, family, friends and former colleagues of the Colemans gathered at Wingate Baptist Church to dedicate the G. Byrns and Alice B. Coleman Hall in their honor.

Having a residence hall bear their name is fitting for a couple that did so much to nurture scores and scores of students over the decades. And its position directly across Elm Street from Wingate Baptist Church is fitting as well, since the Colemans quickly became an integral part of the wider Wingate community, including vital members of WBC, and remained just that for 50 years.

Byrns and Alice Coleman's three children, (from left) Bill Coleman, Jo Hancock and Allen Coleman, stand with Wingate President Rhett Brown.

They saw Wingate the town and Wingate the college grow and change, with the junior college they joined in their 20s eventually becoming a four-year institution and finally a university that grants master's and doctoral degrees.

"It was Wingate that brought them together," their youngest son, Allen, told the audience in the Wingate Baptist Church fellowship hall on Sunday. "They married in Wingate Baptist Church and began a life that remained rooted through the community. While much changed around them, one thing remained constant: their commitment to this community. Wingate was not simply where they worked. It was where they lived. It was where they built and raised a family."

Several friends and family members shared stories about the Colemans - about Byrns' wit and Alice's kindness. For many Wingate students, the lasting memories revolve around Byrns' habit of bringing people home for Sunday lunch or a weeknight meal, often with no forewarning for Alice.

Photos of the Colemans were arrayed on a table for attendees to see.

It was at one of these gatherings that Brown, a 1989 Wingate graduate, first got to know the Colemans. He was brought to the family home by Allen, his Wingate football teammate.

"From that first Sunday forward, Byrns did for me what he did for countless others," Brown said. "He looked after me. He became a professor, a mentor, a colleague and a friend. His intellect, his decency, his wit and, most importantly, his care were quite extraordinary."

The Colemans had intricate and deep connections with many in the town and at the University. Herbert Nash, father of Bill Nash, former dean of students and baseball coach who is now director of the athletic foundation, built the house that the Colemans bought in the 1960s and lived in for over four decades (and which, in 2017, they would donate to the University that brought them together). Byrns later gave eulogies at the funerals of each of Bill Nash's parents.

On Sunday, Nash read from a transcript of the eulogy Byrns gave for Nash's mother, Polly, in 2007. He said that Byrns remarked in wonder about how the Colemans had known Polly for 46 years.

"How blessed those 46 years have been," Nash read. "What makes a person come to a place, unpack, settle down and stay for 47 years? I concluded, it was people."

Now, those decades of ministering to and caring for the people of the Wingate community are commemorated in the form of Coleman Hall. Brown said that he hopes students who live in or walk past Coleman Hall will inquire about the couple it is named for.

"We'll tell them about a professor who arrived here at 25 years old and devoted more than half a century to his students and to his community," he said. "We'll tell them about the young librarian he fell in love with. We'll tell them about a family that made Wingate a special place. We'll tell them about Sunday lunches and Bible lessons, devotion and service and great laughter and great fun. And most importantly, we'll tell them about two people who understood that the best way to build meaningful lives is to invest in and care for others."

Sept. 14, 2026