Thomas McCoy

He was born in the summer of his twenty-seventh year, coming home to a place he'd never been before. He left yesterday behind him, you might say he was born again, you might say he found the key to every door.." -Rocky Mountain High, John Denver. Thomas Ronald McCoy, was born in Huron, South Dakota on February 5th 1935. He spent his childhood in Woonsocket, South Dakota and Marshall, Minnesota. Tom was the rough-hewn son of an Irish-American blacksmith. He was the second oldest of seven children and the oldest son of Ronald and Marie McCoy. As a young boy he was responsible for hunting pheasant after school to feed the family. His father was often away, first working on the construction of the Alaskan Highway, and then he was sent to work as a mechanic in WWII, so young Tom was tasked with keeping his younger siblings fed. After graduating from High School, he joined the US Army and was stationed in Japan during the Korean War. He saw lots of action and later attributed some hearing issues to his shooting the big guns at Soviet subs and migs. Upon his return to the United States, he used his GI bill to go to college at Mankato State College in Minnesota. There he met Mary Margaret Ringer who was studying to be a teacher, and married her August 30th 1958. Tom got a degree in education as well, and as soon as he had his diploma in hand, he hopped in a car with Mary and drove off to California where they both had teaching jobs in Madera, CA. They spent three years there enjoying the mountains and ocean, and racing their MG in their car club. After the birth of their first child, Erin in 1961, they decided they wanted a better place to raise a family and both got teaching jobs in Colorado in the St. Vrain Valley School District. In the summer of his 27th year, Tom began teaching at Central Elementary where he could walk to work from the old house that he and Mary bought while Mary taught kindergarten in Frederick. Tom and Mary worked tirelessly remodeling the old house and fine tuning skills they would later use to build two cabins in the mountains. Their son Sean was born in Longmont in 1965, followed by their son Ryan in 1968. Tom continued his education at Colorado State University where he got a Masters in Industrial Arts. He began teaching at Longs Peak Junior High and then later was one of the original staff that opened Niwot High school in 1971, where he taught for fifteen years until his retirement in 1986. Tom knew he wanted to give back to the community he loved, so he became the President of the St. John's parish council and started serving on the Longmont Planning and Zoning board. He served on many civic boards including the Longmont Downtown Development Authority, Friends of the Senior Center, President of Firehouse Art Center, President of Longmont area Democrats and Eco-cycle. He later went on to serve as city councilman at-large for 22 1/2 years, fourteen of those as mayor pro tem. Tom loved to do oil painting and woodworking and his art and beautifully made furniture graces all our homes. Mary and Tom loved to travel and in the early years would load up a van with kids and camping gear and head out in the summer. Later when the kids were grown, Tom and Mary traveled all over the world visiting 30 countries. Tom was proud of his Irish ancestry and visited Ireland numerous times. Some of their other adventures took them down the Amazon river, snorkeling in the Galapagos Islands, into Egyptian pyramids and even camping in India during a camel auction. Tom best loved going up to the cabin he built in the mountains, where there were plenty of family and friends ready to assist with projects and to join him for beer time. Our family patriarch has passed and our hearts are broken. Tom was surrounded by all his family as he passed away. He is survived by his wife of 65 years Mary McCoy, his daughter Erin (Greg) Miller and his son Sean (Maureen) McCoy and 5 grand-children, Lauren Miller (John), Olivia Miller, Garrett Miller, Claire (Ranon) Prichard and Mollie McCoy. Tom also leaves behind three brothers Jim, Joe, and Brian McCoy. He joins his son Ryan McCoy and numerous family members including two brothers and a sister in the Great Beyond. We can still hear his beautiful voice singing Danny Boy. In lieu of flowers you can make a donation to City of Longmont Open Space Fund. www.longmont colorado.gov/ departments/ departments-n-z/ parks-open- space-and-trails/ donate-parks-open- space-trails Funeral Mass will be held at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church on July 19th at 10:00 am. All are welcome to say farewell to Tom.