Just wanted to express my condolences to the Coleman family, sorry to hear about the passing of Johanna Coleman.
I also would like to express my condolences to Mrs Coleman's family. Mrs Coleman was always willing to educate me when I had questions.
She would email me a full detailed explanation about my query. She was so dedicated to the Town of Lancaster.
Glad she was able to retire to spend time enjoying her out-of-state grandchildren.
May she rest in Peace
Georgia L Schlager
Spot on, Gorga!Originally Posted by gorja
I would just like to add that Lancaster has been blessed with having had three Town Clerks serving in the best interests of their community since 1964.
Robert Thill served as Town Clerk from 1964 through 1999. Johanna Coleman worked in the tax office from 1987, successfully mentored and tutored by Thill then and after becoming the Town Clerk in 2000. Coleman served as Town Clerk until 2015 when she ran for Supervisor and won.
Diane Terranova became Town Clerk in 2016 and has served the community well since, mentored as well by predecessors Thill and Coleman, and deserving of being re-elected this year.
Yes, Diane Terranova does a super job and is well deserving of re-election
Georgia L Schlager
I always respected her dedication to the community. Mr. Thill served his community well as Town Clerk and Mrs. Terranova is doing a great job as well.
Johanna Metz Coleman, 74, first woman supervisor in Lancaster
Buffalo News
Johanna Metz Coleman, who brought competence, civility and charm to her roles as Lancaster's first woman supervisor and its longtime town clerk, died Feb. 9 in her Lancaster home after a short illness. She was 74.
As clerk, she started the town's first website in 2002 and maintained it, giving residents access to all aspects of government and allowing them to make tax payments online. She created electronic files for the tax rolls and made Lancaster the first town in Erie County to automate its tax collection. The system eventually was adopted by all the other towns in the county.
As supervisor, Mrs. Coleman supported the revival of downtown Lancaster and responsible growth and development. She also chaired the Lancaster Industrial Development Agency.
"Johanna was a role model for many women who wanted to pursue a career in public service," former Amherst Supervisor Susan J. Grelick wrote on her tribute page following her death. "She worked tirelessly to improve the quality of life for her constituents and made a positive impact on her community. She will long be remembered for her many contributions that will have a long-lasting impact."
Born in Buffalo, she was the oldest of eight children of Artel J. Metz, a four-term Lancaster town councilman. She graduated from Lancaster High School in 1966.
After earning a bachelor's degree in business and economics in 1970 from Rosary Hill College, now Daemen University, she became the college's director of admissions and then financial aid director, serving until 1976. When the college started a men's flag football team, she was the coach.
Mrs. Coleman then worked as a tax preparer while raising her young daughters. In the mid-1980s, inspired by her father's political accomplishments, she
began her career in public service as a member of the Lancaster Planning Board and ran unsuccessfully for the Lancaster Village Board in 1985.
Two years later, she won election as the town's receiver of taxes and was elected to a full four-year term in 1989. She won re-election in 1993 and was unopposed for another term in 1997.
"She campaigned door to door," her sister Noreen Williams said. "Even if she was unopposed, she went door to door. In the office, she made it a point to go out and greet people. If she could do anything to help anyone, she did."
Mrs. Coleman served as president of the Erie County Association of Tax Receivers and Collectors and was part of the group of tax officials who convinced Albany to amend the state's property tax law to allow payments in installments.
When Lancaster decided to merge its town clerk and tax collection operations in 1999, she successfully ran for town clerk, administering both departments and holding the office for four terms.
She landed a state grant to establish a storage facility for town records in an unused town building on Pavement Road.
"All of our records were stored at a commercial archive downtown called Iron Mountain, and whenever somebody had to see a record, we had to pay for that carton to be received, pay to have it transported here, and pay to have it transported back and restocked," Mrs. Coleman said in her campaign biography when she ran for town supervisor in 2015. "We got the grant and it saved us a lot of money, just on retrieval costs."
In that campaign against feisty incumbent Republican Supervisor Dino J. Fudoli, Buffalo News reporter Karen Robinson wrote, "She and Fudoli are as different as can be, both in style and character. The dark-haired, softspoken Coleman has a polite, but no-nonsense approach."
She emerged with 58% of the vote. Her most difficult task as supervisor was arranging for the introduction of garbage and recycling totes, since Lancaster was one of the last municipalities in the county to adopt them.
After a single four-year term, she declined to run for re-election in 2019. That same year, Mrs. Coleman was inducted onto the Lancaster High School Alumni Wall of Honor for public service. She continued to serve on the Erie County Industrial Development Agency's policy committee.
She was married in 1972 to John E. Coleman. An electrical engineer whose projects included refurbishing the clock at Old Erie County Hall, he died in 2013.
She was an incompetent clerk that managed to not cash my tax payment check, which was received a week early, but then charged me a late fee two weeks later. Then she botched the garbage collection deal as supervisor. She forgot about it and then screwed the whole town with a horrible deal that increased annual rates and substantially decreased service. I have no positive things to say about her work for Lancaster. Fine human, horrible work record.
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