Founder of local women's fitness clubs dies
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Friday, May 16, 2008
Steven Coleman — a former Realtor who started a chain of local women's fitness clubs — died May 8 in Danville, Calif. at the age of 96.
Coleman lived in the Dayton area from 1957 to 2006, first arriving in order to convert former Army barracks into affordable homes, said his son, Mitch Coleman.
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Coleman worked in commercial realty as a broker and agent. Springing from an idea a client suggested, Coleman opened and began operating a women's health club in the old downtown Dayton Rike's store, his son said.
In time, Coleman's chain of Total Woman health clubs grew to four locations, three in the Dayton area and another near the Tri-County Mall in the Cincinnati area, said Mitch Coleman, who lives in Cincinnati himself. He also was building a separate co-ed facility in Englewood before the business ended in the mid-1980s.
Coleman was an avid runner, who ran into his 80s, and even enjoyed walking up until several months before his death.
"He has always been a health enthusiast," Mitch Coleman said.
His clubs were the first to offer babysitting services for customers, the younger Coleman said. He also hosted his own radio show on WAVI, called "For Women Only" and sponsored by his own club. He also wrote a syndicated column in the 1980s, called "Senior Talk."
"He had a bit of local notoriety in his day," his son said, adding, "He was a great example of someone who had a passion for taking care of themselves."
