Clarence Junior McCoy

Clarence Junior McCoy was born in Polk County, rural Flemington, Missouri on July 16, 1927 and passed away on Sunday, June 29, 2008 at 1:45 p.m. in his home. His loving wife and daughters were at his bedside at the time of his passing. Dad suffered from congestive heart failure and his wife and daughters cared for him at home with the help of the wonderful aid and care of CMH Home Health Care and Hospice Services. At the time of his death he was 80 years, 10 months, and 29 days old. Dad was born to his parents Clarence Benjamin Harrison McCoy and Bessie (Green) McCoy. His sister, Mildred Dee Biggerstaff, was 13 years old at the time of his birth. At the age of less than two years old he was diagnosed with spinal meningitis. At that time the doctor believed he would not survive, but he surprised everyone and got better. He had to learn to walk all over again and was ill quite often during his childhood. He was also run over by a tractor when his girls were quite young accounting for some aches and pains throughout the rest of his life. He married Myrtle Lorene Richards on December 7th, 1946. They were both very young, Dad being 19 and Mom 17. A daughter, Carolyn, was born September 28,1947. Dad was forever saying he didn't know what to do when Dr. Brown handed me to him to take to the stove to warm up but throughout the years he said often he didn't know what he would do without me. That always made me feel very special. Another daughter, Ilia Mae, was born August 17, 1950. She made our family complete. Our Dad was a hard-working man who loved his family. We know of no I person he ever turned away who was in need of any kind of help. There is no way of knowing how many times Dad served as a pallbearer in our community. It seems like hundreds. He was also a push over when it came to animals by adopting hungry stray dogs and cats when they came around. He never wanted anything to go hungry or to suffer if he could help them. Dad was employed at Teters Floral Products and spent many long nights at work in the plant coming home early in the morning and after a few hours sleep would arise to work on machinery to ready it for farm work and would continue until time to go back to work at the Teters plant. Dad continued his employment with Teters until his retirement. Open heart surgery kept him down for awhile but it wasn't long before he was hard at work again along with Mother keeping things going on the home place. In December of 1996 Dad and Mom celebrated a 50th wedding anniversary and many relatives and friends came to the party and wished them well. They would have celebrated 62 years of marriage this coming December 7th. A very happy day for Dad and his family was when he was saved and Christ Jesus entered his life. He was baptized at Cooper Cove by Reverend Earsom who was the minister of the Elkton Christian Church. He attended services there as often as his health would allow. He enjoyed the fellowship and always spoke highly of his fellow church members. He was proud to be a part of Elkton Christian Church. Before his death Reverend Curtis Swearingin visited Dad often and Dad enjoyed his friendship very much. Dad led a full and interesting life it always seemed to me. He operated the Texaco Service Station in Flemington for a number of years while Mom ran a cafe there. We kids were raised on the streets of Flemington, which wasn't a bad thing back then. After working all day at the service station pumping gas, fixing flat tires and doing mechanic work, Dad would work until the wee hours of the morning sewing brooms for his brother-in-law at Henry Broomworks. He and Mom also cut, raked and- baled hay for different individuals and worked at their farm in Hickory County where they raised cattle. They moved from Flemington proper to the farm in 1971 where Mother continues to live. Clarence Junior McCoy is survived by his loving wife of 61 years, Myrtle; his daughter, Carolyn Kay Johnson, and her husband Dale of Elkton; their son, Michael, who is serving his country in the United States Marine Corps in Al Asad, Iraq and who was not able to obtain leave to attend his grandpa's funeral; his daughter, IlIa Mae Cloyd, her husband, Ronnie, and their two children, Ronald A. Cloyd and Stacey M. Cloyd, all of Marshfield, Missouri; two great-grandsons, Brandon Cloyd and Bradley Cloyd of Marshfield; and a great-granddaughter, Danielle Nicole Johnson of Bolivar, Missouri; a niece, Patricia King and her children, Donald King and Sherry Hawk and her husband Rich, all of Springfield, Missouri, cousins, other relation, and many friends. Clarence was preceded in death by his parents, his sister, a granddaughter, and a great-granddaughter. At this time the family wishes to express their appreciation for the love and kindness received from friends at the passing of our loved one. We especially wish to thank the CMH Home Health Care and Hospice Staff who worked with us so patiently in addressing so many questions and concerns during Dad's illness. Funeral services will be at 1:00 PM Wednesday, July 2, 2008 at Murray Funeral Home, Humansville with Rev. Jack Sawyers officiating. Interment will be in Eastlawn Cemetery, Springfield. Memorial donations may be made to the Elkton Christian Church, % Murray Funeral Home, P O Box 93, Humansville, MO 65674. PDF Printable Version

Clarence Junior McCoy

July 16, 1927 - June 29, 2008