He keeps on ticking

Staring at his wall of awards, one can see that 93-year-old Frank "Tick" Coleman has lived a very productive life.

Fortunately, he shows no signs of slowing down just yet.

He speaks with the vigor of an 18-year-old, and his vibrant personality is evident in the way he tells a story.

A member of the community who has a knack for helping those around him, Coleman has always found joy in the work he has accomplished over the past 70 years.

"I never had a job I didn’t enjoy," he says.

Living life to the fullest has always been Coleman’s unofficial mantra, and he has spent the majority of his life teaching others this valuable lesson.

His zest for life was prevalent even during his childhood. Coleman was one of the first African-American Boy Scouts in the country.

Coleman says he was also the first African-American quarterback for Central High School, where his determination led the team to win the Philadelphia Public League Championship two years in a row.

His glory days did not end there: He was also the quarterback for Lincoln University’s football team for four years.

Lincoln presented the former student with an honorary doctorate in 1984.

As a physical-education major, Coleman says he couldn’t find a job in his field.

"Since there was no place for me anywhere, I decided to start working at local youth clubs," he recalls.

In a four-year span, Coleman was involved in four area youth clubs, where, he says, he found work fairly easily due to his dedication to the job.

"Due to my reputation in the area, everyone wanted me," he chuckles.

In 1941, Coleman landed a job as the "boys’ work secretary" at the Christian Street YMCA, which was then the city’s "hub." He was mainly in charge of taking care of younger men with a median age of 18.

"It was a little more than simply supervising the kids," he says. "It was working with them."

During his time there, he took on the added role of caregiver for several boys.

"It was during World War II, and many of their fathers weren’t around due to the war," he explains. "I was like their second father."

Coleman says he loved taking the young men out to day camps and field trips, providing them with the opportunity to experience new places of culture. But what he loved most, he recalls, were the exaggerated stories of their daily events that would entice the boys’ younger brothers to join the YMCA.

"It was that fantasy world that kept them going," says Coleman.

And while his prot�g�s would perform their daily activities, the youth leader would inconspicuously slip in a life lesson or two.

He describes a time when he was trying to teach his group how to swim.

"When they saw me [swim] underwater, they saw a big shark," he says. "They didn’t see me."

The boys then would want to imitate his actions, leaving the fear of swimming out of the pool. Coleman says he promised all the young men that within three weeks, they would be swimming.

"You’ve got to establish goals with young people," he explains. "They should always strive to better themselves."

Continuing with his love of working with young adults, Coleman took a job with the Board of Education in 1950. There he was responsible for pupil personnel and counseling in the school system.

The job left him with his nights free, which Coleman took full advantage of. He found a night job at the Hebrew Center (now the JCCs Stiffel Center), Porter and Marshall streets.

While coaching men’s basketball at the center, Coleman says his athletes had bad experiences with the "richer" players on the opposing team, even though all the players were Jewish. The coach told them to focus on the game and not on the remarks, and his team eventually won.

"As long as you can take the criticism and grow from it, that is the greatest victory possible," he says. "It’s an experience you go through so you can pass it on to the next generation."

Coleman retired from the Board of Education in the 1970s. However, he agreed to help Lincoln University by serving as director of alumni relations in the 1980s.

He says he acted as a middleman between the students and the administration, helping to find financial aid for a number of scholars at his alma mater.

"I always told students that if they had a problem, they shouldn’t handle it themselves," recalls Coleman. "They should come to me instead."

A life-threatening gangrene infection in his right leg caused him to give up the job in 2000.

While he now wears a prosthetic leg, he doesn’t let this impediment slow him down.

"I’m dying to get into a pool again," Coleman says.

His nickname — which he received years ago for his ability to get a project done "in a few ticks" — is well-known throughout the community, and he is a staple at the Lincoln University campus. He rarely goes by his first name.

Coleman has been honored with so many awards in the past few years that he can hardly keep track of them. He also will be recognized at the 150th anniversary celebration of the Christian Street YMCA on Sept. 30.

Coleman lives with his bubbly daughter, Evelyn, on the 2100 block of Earp Street. Another daughter, five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren also comprise his family.

The 93-year-old says that of all his accomplishments, he’s most proud of the community’s appreciation for him in the past three years.

"So many groups are showing their recognition for what I’ve done, and it makes me feel so wonderful."