Dairy Leader Buddy Coleman Dies At 83

Walter C. "Buddy" Coleman, former president and CEO of Coleman Dairy, died Monday at the age of 83.

Coleman Dairy, which began its operation in 1862, is considered the oldest family operated dairy west of the Mississippi. It makes a variety of dairy products under a number of different labels.

Buddy Coleman joined his father and brother in the family business in 1951 after playing minor league baseball. He was a multi-sport athlete in high school and college. He also had a lengthy career as a football official, ultimately serving as as Southwest Conference official for 26 years. Coleman is a member of the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame.

With the company, Coleman led the dairy’s cutting-edge foray into television advertising. In the early 1950’s, he convinced the dairy to invest in the Annie Oakley TV show starring Arkansas native Gail Davis and the marketing endeavor was deemed widely successful in raising Coleman Dairy’s brand awareness and sales.

Coleman was also known for guiding the company in its philanthropy. Under his direction, Coleman Dairy was a major sponsor for a variety of youth sports programs for decades as well as the Miss Arkansas Pageant.

Talk Business will update this story later today.