Joseph McCoy, also known as Mac, Slim, and Hector, grew up during the great depression in the little, country town of Perdido in AL. He was a WW2 veteran, who volunteered for the Navy and served in the Pacific as a fire fighter on the aircraft carrier Chenango. After the war he became a merchant marine and while sailing to Italy met his future wife Alida. He later came back to Mobile and got a job at Brookley Field and raised 3 sons Julian, Myron and Larry. After being married for almost 64 years and sharing many adventures around the world together he lost his sweetheart to cancer. He carried on without her and cherished her memory until he died today at 93. He had many friends and was cherished by his family. He always led by example and put his family first before anything, he loved his boys and family. He showed others that just because you grew up poor doesn't mean you have to stay poor and that hard work and sacrifice pays off. I have never met a man that was as tough on the outside as he was sweet on the inside, who sacrificed so much so others wouldn't have so little like he did growing up. He never spoke negative of anyone and never judged. He would always find the positive and try to lift someone up. He would always stop to help a stranger and crack a joke. Not only was his life, adventures and the time he lived in extraordinary but also the man himself.
Mr. McCoy was preceded in death by his parents, Joseph Wheeler McCoy and Effie Mae Mann McCoy, and beloved wife, Alida Maria Denise Mundula McCoy. He is survived by his sons, Larry McCoy (Lynda), Myron McCoy, and Julian McCoy (Sylvia); grandchildren, Travis McCoy, Vance McCoy, Amber McCoy, Savannah McCoy, Delaney McCoy, Heather Byrd, Luke McCoy, Amy Barnette, Kathryn Dinges, Allen Ivy, Kelly Ivy, Trent Ivy, and Mary Ann Campbell; great-grandchildren, other relatives and friends.
Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated from Little Flower Catholic Church on Thursday, February 20, 2020, at 1 p.m. with Reverend John Lynes serving as Celebrant. The family will receive friends at Radney Funeral Home on Dauphin Street on Thursday, February 20 from 10:30 a.m. until the 12:30 procession to the church. Interment will be in Pine Crest Cemetery on Dauphin Island Parkway. Condolences may be offered at www.radneyfuneralhome-mobile.com.
