WW II veteran was descendant of Oregon settlers

12/11/2002

Richard G. Coy, who worked in a factory and a water treatment facility, owned a market, and delivered milk but who always made time to help with his children's school and Scout activities, died Saturday in Heartland of Oregon, where he lived three years. He was 76.

He had been in poor health since a work-related accident 30 years ago. He retired in the mid-1970s.

Mr. Coy's variety of jobs included selling insurance and restaurant equipment and being a waterworks operator for the city of Oregon. But his favorite job was delivering milk in Jerusalem Township for Sealtest, his daughter, Rebecca Hamilton, said.

“He was a real people person. They all trusted him,” she said. “He could walk into their house, and they'd feel comfortable.”

Mr. Coy was a former scoutmaster for Boy Scout Troop 34 and, as a member of the Clay High School Band Parents, he helped with concessions during football games.

He was born in what was then Oregon Township, the descendant of a settler. He later lived on Coy Road, and his children attended Coy Elementary School.

“Boy, were we proud of the Coy name,” his daughter said.

Because his father died when he was an infant, he lived with relatives and in the Lutheran Orphans and Old Folks Home for a time.

He was a Navy veteran of World War II, serving in the Pacific. He met his wife, Joyce, during a stop in Australia.

Surviving are his wife, Joyce, whom he married Feb. 22, 1947; son, James Coy; daughter, Rebecca Hamilton; nine grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

Services will be at 10:30 a.m. today in the Freck Funeral Chapel, Oregon. The family requests tributes to the Oregon branch of the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library.