Born in Mafeking in 1939. He was educated at Laerskool Zeerust, Transvaal and at Christian Brothers College in Kimberley. After working for a year in Zambia he entered St John Vianney Seminary, Pretoria as a student for the Diocese of Port Elizabeth at the invitation of Bishop Ernest Green. As well as his clerical training in the seminary, he also obtained a BA in Philosophy degree through the University of South Africa.
He was ordained to the priesthood in 1963. Coleman was named bishop of the Port Elizabeth diocese in 1986 resigning on August 20, 2011.[1][2]
The Right Reverend Gower died shortly after stepping down, on December 17, 2011.[3]