Chris Coleman '83
Distinguished Alumnus
Chris Coleman is a 1983 graduate who was honored to be elected class president and to serve as captain of the cross-country team during his time at Dowling. Following high school, he attended St. Ambrose University where he was student government president. After college, he served for two years as a Vista Volunteer in Appalachia, Kentucky.
Chris spent the first half of his career at the United Way as Vice President for Annual Campaign and Marketing. He was also a founding member of the Beaverdale Neighborhood Association and a past officer. He has served as president of the Better Business Bureau for 19 years and has been elected to serve and lead the community as a Des Moines City Council member for the last 26. Over the past two decades, he has led several regional government groups and been elected Chair of the Board for the Homeless Coordinating Council, Catch Des Moines, Metro Waste Authority, the Metro Planning Organization, and the Metro Advisory Council.
His contributions to the community are tremendous and include planning and directing the Catholic Youth Camp at the St. Thomas More Center in Panora and the high school and confirmation retreats for the Diocese of Des Moines. He has tried to honor the opportunities Dowling has given him by giving back and paying forward through service, leadership, civility, and standing up for the values he learned as a student.
What he remembers most about his experiences at DCHS are how kind and interesting his classmates were and how they made him a better person. He also remembers the teachers and their incredible sense of mission and concern for all of them, all while sacrificing higher salaries and benefits so they could be at Dowling. No other institution has been as important to himself, his dad, alumnus Ron Coleman ‘57, and the five children he shares with his late wife Marcie: Nick ‘11, Maggie ‘12, Jesse ‘14, Katie ‘16, and Ellie ‘21. No other honor could mean as much to him as his life story has been told through the people of Dowling Catholic.
