Obituaries

Peter M. Coleman

Peter M. Coleman, retired local banker, passionate collector of antique custom cars and lifelong resident of Mattituck, passed away March 22, 2017. He was 75.

Mr. Coleman was born in Eastern Long Island Hospital in Greenport in 1941. He graduated from Mattituck High School in 1959 and from SUNY Delhi in 1961. He then served in the U.S. Army for two years. While stationed in Fort Gordon, GA, he met his future wife, Sandra Barthlow. They married in 1963.

Upon his honorable discharge from the Army, Pete moved back to Mattituck where he joined North Fork Bank & Trust Co as a commercial lender. He graduated from the Stonier School of Banking at Rutgers University in 1973.

After 25 years with North Fork Bank, he joined Riverhead Savings Bank for 5 years. He then retired after 18 years with Bridgehampton National Bank.

Pete was a member of the Mattituck Fire Department where he served as fire chief and then fire commissioner. For 50 years, he was also an active member of the Mattituck Lions Club, who awarded him the Melvin Jones Award.

Pete was known around the country for his custom antique cars. Over the years, his cars were often awarded best in show at car shows across the country, and featured in national magazines.

He was also an avid boater. For many years, Pete and his wife Sandy were summer evening fixtures in Robins Island cove aboard their boat, the “Sandy Sea.”

His family and friends considered him their very own “George Bailey” from the Christmas movie classic “It’s a Wonderful Life.” He did right by everyone he met in the hometown he cherished, for a community he loved and respected. He was proud to say he had no regrets.

He was a member of the Mattituck Inlet Advisory Committee, the Hamlet Advisory Committee, the North Fork Housing Alliance, and a past elder of the Mattituck Presbyterian Church.

Mr. Coleman was predeceased by his parents, Cyril and Elizabeth (Duryee) Coleman, and his brother, Philip. He is survived by his wife, Sandra; his children, Pamela, Paul, and Janet (Sides), grandson, Seth (Zahra), sister, Virginia (Hoag), two nieces and a nephew.

Funeral services will be held Wednesday, March 29, from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. at DeFriest Grattan Funeral Home in Mattituck. A Mattituck Fire Department service will be held at 7:30 p.m., immediately followed by a Mattituck Lions Club Service.

Mr. Coleman will be interred in the Coleman Family Cemetery in Buckingham, Va. during a service held by his surviving sister, Virginia Coleman Hoag, and his entire Virginia-based family.

The Coleman family requests that donations be made to either the Kanas Center for Hospice Care in Quiogue, eeh.org or to the charity of choice.

This is a paid notice.