L. Stewart \Stew\"" McCoy Obituary (1924 - 2003)

Leroy Stewart McCoy (Stew), 79, of Madisonville, KY died at 3:00 am, Thursday, October 30, 2003 at Regional Medical Center in Madisonville, KY. \ He was born in 1924 in Bay City Michigan to parents Roy E. McCoy and Alice Stewart McCoy. He grew up in Bay City and Black River, Michigan, attending St Joseph HS and working at the family fishery on Lake Huron in the summers. \ He served during WWII in the US Navy as an airman in the South Pacific, where he earned the Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medals. During a mission over the Pacific he located two lost British airmen in a lifeboat. The British airman did not know who found them at the time, but fifty years later, in 1994, they located airman McCoy and invited him and his wife, Jan, to London for an appreciation celebration. \ After returning from the war Stew earned a degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Detroit and went to work for Terry and Steadman Construction, where he worked on the Louisville floodwall. He worked on the Ohio Turnpike and was the central figure in determining the professional status of engineers in the growing highway construction industry. In 1953 he received an award from the American Civil Engineers Society for this contribution. He was the lead engineer for Terry and Wright Construction from 1955 to 1959 working on Rough River Dam and other projects in the region. \ Stew and his wife (the former Jeanette B. Derocher of Bay City Michigan) and their children relocated to Madisonville KY in 1959 where Stew was superintendent of construction for the Pennyrile Parkway. \ Following completion of the parkway in 1962 he founded Charbon Bridge Company along with two partners. Stew served as President until his retirement in 1988. He was a member of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Earlington and had an active role in establishing Christ the King Catholic Church in Madisonville. \ Following his retirement, Stew and Jan traveled extensively in both the US and abroad, visiting Russia, China, Europe, the Mediterranean, including a trip to Czechoslovakia to visit the home village of his grandmother. \ Stew loved to play golf and was a regular at Lakeshore CC and then Madisonville Country Club, where he was known as the last golfer to stop playing in the Fall and first to start in the Spring. He was also a member of Lost Lake CC in Lincoln, Michigan. He and Jan restored the old McCoy summer home in Black River Michigan, turning it into a wonderful cottage on the shore of Lake Huron where family and friends gather throughout the summer. \ Stew is survived by his wife of 51 years, Jan, and five children: Greg (and Donna) McCoy of Chadds Ford, PA; Steve (and Emily) McCoy of Madisonville, KY; Laurie McCoy of Madisonville; Alison (and David) Hunt of Whittier CA; and Beth (and Andy) McClary of Cincinnati OH. He and Jan have 11 grandchildren. \ Funeral services will be held at 11:00 Monday, November 3 at Barnett-Strother Funeral Home in Madisonville. Visitation will be Sunday November 2 from 2:00 to 8:00 and Monday from 9:00 to 11:00. \ Memorial contributions may be made to Green River Hospice Patient Care, 109 S. 2nd St., Central City, KY 42330. \