Coleman Shannon, WWII veteran, Lexington lamp store owner, dies

Coleman Shannon, 94, a World War II veteran and a longtime small business owner in Lexington, died Tuesday.

Shannon, who founded Shannon Lamp Service in 1956, was a Lexington native and attended Picadome Elementary School.

After being drafted into the Army, he spent three years in Florida running a post exchange and was then transferred to the Philippines, where he served in heavy combat for a year, said his son, David Shannon.

Shannon was awarded the Bronze Star for attempting to save a fellow soldier from drowning, David Shannon said.

Coleman Shannon returned home from the service on Feb. 13, 1946, and he met his future wife, Dolores, the next day, Valentine’s Day. The couple married on Halloween and celebrated their 69th anniversary last year.

Dolores Shannon died Dec. 26.

Upon returning from the war, Coleman Shannon worked as an apprentice at Lexington Plating Co. for three years, then opened his own plating company in 1949.

He later worked for Setzer’s Polishing for seven years before opening his own shop, which was first known as Shannon Plating, David Shannon said.

By 1974, the company’s custom lampshades, marketed as Shamrock Shades, had replaced the plating business.

Coleman Shannon later sold Shannon Lamp Service, at 1210 North Limestone, to his son David, but he remained active in retirement.

As he neared his 80th birthday, he learned to work with stained glass, making custom pieces and doing repairs. He worked in the lamp shop regularly until he was 90, his son said.

Coleman Shannon is survived by three children, David Shannon, Eddie Shannon and Janet Gross, all of Lexington.

Funeral services will be conducted at 10 a.m. Saturday at Kerr Brothers Funeral Home on Main Street. Visitation is 5 to 8 p.m. Friday at the funeral home.

This story was originally published May 17, 2016 at 9:53 PM with the headline "Coleman Shannon, WWII veteran, Lexington lamp store owner, dies."