Jean Colman, made a career helping low-income women

Jean Colman spent her career working to help lower-income women achieve fair treatment and dignity. The former Welfare Rights Organizing Coalition director died May 8 at the age of 59 after helping thousands of women improve their lives and inspiring countless others, those close to her said.

Mrs. Colman became an organizer with the coalition in 1984, became its first executive director three years later and remained with the group until she retired in 2007.

The changes she helped achieve for poor families included higher-education opportunities for welfare recipients, welfare increases to help families keep up with inflation, and even such basic amenities as a children's waiting area and baby-changing tables in a welfare-office restroom.

Mrs. Colman's honors included the ACLU's O'Douglas Award for Civil Liberties. Accepting it in 2001, she said, "I want to see a country that does not have such differences between the very rich and the very poor. I also want to see a country in which poor women with children can make the best choices for themselves and their families, and have an income that supports those choices."

The Children's Alliance will posthumously give her its Voices for Children award at the group's June 4 luncheon.

After she retired, Mrs. Colman helped form the Olympia-based group Parents Organizing for Welfare and Economic Rights — POWER — which will continue her work.

Colleague Kristyn Joy, an "activist and ally" who served on the board of directors for the Welfare Rights Organizing Coalition, described Mrs. Colman as "tireless."

What drove her?

"I think she just believed in working for fairness for everybody and people who didn't have a voice," said her husband, Mike Wall. "And she just wanted to give voice to people, especially low-income mothers." If she left a legacy, Wall said it's that "she inspired a lot of people to become activists in the community."

She married Wall two years ago, but they had been together for 15 years, he said.

Her interests outside of work included movies, and she was a volunteer at the Seattle International Film Festival. She was also a master gardener, enjoyed world music and travel — especially in the nine years since she'd been diagnosed with breast cancer. "Once she got that, we decided not to wait to start living," Wall said.

Mrs. Colman is also survived by her father, Al Colman, of Tuscon, Ariz., and sisters Laurie Colman, of Seattle, Diane Colman-Fields, of Tuscon, and Susan Colman, of Ben Lomond, Calif.

A public memorial is scheduled for June 20 at the Century Ballroom. Memorial gifts may be made to POWER or Gilda's Club Seattle.

Mark Rahner: 206-464-8259 or mrahner@seattletimes.com