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NSF PS 03-01 - May 2003
Statement by Dr. Karl Erb
Head of the U.S. Antarctic Program
On The Death of the Rev. John Coleman
On behalf of the men and women of the U.S. Antarctic Program, I
would like to express our sadness at the death of the Rev. John
Coleman, who served as the Catholic chaplain at McMurdo Station
for almost 20 years.
John died of cancer in Christchurch, N.Z., on May 9 at the age of
71.
Since 1985, in the face of the harsh conditions and isolation
that go hand-in-hand with service in Antarctica, he had been a
source of inspiration and a steadying presence "on the ice."
While John's ministry included a parish in his native New
Zealand, he was best known to those of us in the program as our
genial priest in a parka. In the station's Chapel of Snows, but
also in the dining hall and almost anywhere else people gathered
in "Mactown," John lent his ear to anyone who needed his
understanding and guidance, recognizing that beyond the physical
strain of Antarctic service, life at McMurdo can sometimes place
a great deal of stress on families and marriages.
"We're not just about God," John once said of himself and the
other spiritual leaders in McMurdo. "We're about the needs of
people."
We are all very grateful to him for doing just that.
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