Rivers Coleman

Marion Rivers Coleman passed away on Wednesday, September 28, 2022 at Greenwood Leflore Hospital. She was 94 years young! 

Reverend Lanny Haley will officiate her Celebration of Life service. Visitation will be at the Greenwood Delta Funeral Home on Wednesday, October 5, 2022 from 5 pm to 7 pm. The funeral will be held on Thursday, October 6, 2022 at 11 am in the Chapel at the Greenwood Delta Funeral Home, 1008 Sgt John Pittman Drive, Greenwood, MS 38930. Following the service, she will be laid to rest in the Odd Fellows Cemetery.  

Rivers was born and raised in Cascilla, Mississippi during the depression. Aubrey Hyde and Ruth Corrine Hyde were her parents. As a sharecropper’s daughter, Rivers worked in the fields, picked cotton, and bargained for the family’s other needs by selling fruits and vegetables. These early hardships created a strong work ethic in her and her brother and sisters. In her late teens and after she quit school to help provide for the family, Rivers worked in the hosiery mill in Grenada, Mississippi. Later, she owned and operated a small sandwich shop with her sister, Shirley. She met a wholesale food salesman, Chester James Coleman, and they soon married.  Together, they moved to Greenwood, Mississippi to get better work; and there they had their first child, Rivers Ann Coleman. In less than a year and again for better work, they moved to Orlando, Florida and had their second child, Colman Ronald Coleman. Rivers worked as a waitress in the San Juan Restaurant, where she trained and perfected her lifelong skill as a waitress. A few years later, Rivers left her husband with her two small children to return to Greenwood, Mississippi. 

In 1957, Rivers began what would become her lifelong career at the Crystal Grill. Initially, she worked the breakfast shift, going to work at 4 am to serve breakfast and lunch to farmers, rail workers, and residents. Working full time and raising two small children consumed most of her time. She created a home in Greenwood without any help from the government or her husband.  Then, in her thirty’s she barely survived cancer. Rivers became a lifelong fighter for herself, her children, her family, and later for any residents that needed a champion. Rivers stood up for her beliefs and she stood up for all people who were being bullied. She was led by her heart and by the love she had for her community. While working at the Crystal for 55 years she served three generations of Greenwood families. Rivers had an amazing life, and thank you to each of you who made it so – It Was A Wonderful Life! 

Rivers is survived by her daughter, Rivers Coleman Brauer (Bob) of Chesapeake, Virginia; by her son, Colman Ronald Coleman of Carencro, Louisiana; and by her granddaughter, Channing Elizabeth Fitzgerald (Ricky). 

The Pallbearers will be James Daves; Steve Hays; Michael Granholm; Daniel Hays; Cory Walker; Paul Barrentine, John Hays; and Sid Aust.

Memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society or the Kidney Foundation or the charity of the donor’s choice. 

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