Hail, Caesar: Caesar's Palace Barbershop owner Bob Coleman laid to rest.

By Jim Cook
Published: March 14, 2010

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Bob Coleman went out with a roar.

The sound of 100 motorcycles filled the air outside Caesar’s Palace Barbershop Saturday, signalling the beginning of a memory ride in Coleman’s honor.

“The thunder rolled today, that’s what he always talked about, wanting to hear the thunder,” daughter Marlene Graham said.

Coleman, the proprietor of Caesar’s Palace Barbershop, a Dothan landmark, died Wednesday. Coleman had suffered a massive heart attack on March 6.

Caesar’s Palace is a Dothan icon. Coleman filled the shop with memorabilia such as campaign signs from every end of the political spectrum, old cash registers and R.C. soda bottles, among various other contraptions and art.

“The best thing about the barbershop was that it had so much character,” Jamie Bass said. “You had elbow room in the early years, but as time went on you didn’t have so much elbow room.”

The palace was more than just a place to get a haircut and check out vintage gadgets. For 37 years, it was the South Alabama equivalent of a salon -- a place where folks in the know could talk about art, politics, and the best dirty jokes of the day.

Coleman presided over it all, giving hair cuts, advice and the truth, or at least his version of it. No subject was off limits.

“Bob was able to discuss anything with anybody,” Bass said. “He could agree to disagree, and he could give you a handshake and a hug and tell you that he loved you.”

Anna Cooper, Coleman’s daughter, said the family isn’t sure what will be done with the shop yet, but Coleman’s son, also a barber, has expressed interest in the shop.

Beyond his work in the shop, Coleman was also very active in the community, lending his time and compassion to a number of helping causes, some of them public, others private.

“Bob made many a light bill payment,” Bass said.

Cooper said, “If anyone in Dothan was in need, he was there. “He was the first person to give someone help... It didn’t matter who you were, if you needed help, he was there.”