Kathryn Stefanelli Coleman

Kathryn Stefanelli Coleman, 104 years old, passed away at her home surrounded by her loving family on June 10, 2025.

Kathryn grew up in Newark, NJ, the daughter of Louis Stefanelli, founder of Columbus Hospital in that city. She was born on June 27, 1920. She graduated from Caldwell College, commuting to New York to earn her teaching certificate. She met Patrick Coleman, who had grown up in Hoboken, NJ, and counted a younger Frank Sinatra among his pals. They had played “kick the can” and baseball together.

The young couple settled in Caldwell, and Kathryn taught school. One of her third-grade students was Frankie Valli, who would grow up to be the falsetto-voiced lead singer of the popular Four Seasons. In 1967, the Colemans—with their children, Kathleen, Patrick, and Barbara moved to Hagerstown, where they built a home in Fountainhead. Patrick worked for Fairchild, and Kathryn taught school at Hooverville Elementary School in Waynesboro, PA. This move was a bit of a culture shock for the family. “When I saw the cows, I cried” Kathryn told me. Kathryn was a beautiful woman, petite, perfectly coiffed, and smartly dressed. We shared a hug when she arrived and when she parted. It’s a New Jersey family thing.

Her children and love and miss her so. She is at rest with her husband at Hollywood Memorial Park & Cemetery in Union, NJ. “I wanted to leave this world in my house in Fountainhead, Hagerstown, MD, and be sent to Union, NJ, to be with my husband. I had a goodbye to all my children, I love you!”