After a brief illness, Jean Kirker McCoy passed away peacefully on November 28, 2018, at Renown Hospital in Reno, Nevada, nine days after her seventy-eighth birthday.
She is survived by her husband Stanley E. McCoy and two sons, Joe and Brett K. McCoy, daughter-in-law Kristina McCoy, as well three grandchildren, Evan, Wyatt, and Karlee, three nieces and two nephews, her brother and sister, and host of other relatives and friends across the country and in Europe.
A native of Winnemucca, Jean was born on November 19, 1940, to Kenneth Edwin and Mary Geraldine Kirker (née Wagoner). She was the second of three children, including an older sister Frances Geraldine Kirker and a younger brother, James Kenneth Kirker. Jean spent her childhood in Winnemucca and the family resided at Ten-Mile out Jungo Rd., the Hockenbrocker House on Winnemucca Blvd., and finally at 1015 Bell St.
Jean graduated from Humboldt High School in 1958, and she went on to attend the College of the Pacific for a year, San Jose State for a semester, and then to Fresno State, where she obtained her degree in elementary education and taught in the Tulare city school, living with her aunt and uncle, Helen and Jim Ingle, for two years.
She then taught for two years in the Sacramento area along with her friend, Diane Berry, before moving back home to Winnemucca in 1965.
She married Stanley Eugene McCoy on November 20, 1965. The couple constructed their house at 1692 Lahontan Ave., which was to become the family home where the couple resided when their sons were born, Joe in 1969, and Brett in 1971.
In late 2006, the couple moved to the second home they built on West Rose Creek Rd.
Jean valued education and sought knowledge throughout her lifetime. She taught for over twenty years at Sonoma Heights Elementary School teaching both third and fourth grades. In the early 1990’s, she earned a master’s degree in Special Education from the University of Nevada and taught in that field in the last years of her career at French Ford Middle School.
She was also fluent in Spanish from her high school days, a skill that benefited her greatly in her career and in her travels.
Jean was an avid hiker and devoted Catholic, and, in the summer of 2002, she undertook the first of many pilgrimages along the Way of St. James in northern Spain.
Other pilgrimages included journeys in southern France, the El Camino Real in California, and Ireland. Jean was also active in local quilting circles as well as gardening.
She travelled extensively and was acquainted with such a number of people from her various interests and activities, that no one in her family could be certain that they have all received notice of her untimely death.
All who knew Jean will miss her dearly for her strength of character, her devotion to others, for her enthusiasm for life, her unfailing honesty and sense of humor.
A celebration of Jean’s life will be held on January 12, 2019, at St. Paul’s Catholic Church including a rosary at 10:30 am and service at 11:00 am and luncheon to follow.
