Long-time resident of Humboldt County, Stanley Eugene McCoy died peacefully in his sleep on the morning of February 7, 2024.
Stanley was the youngest of four children born to Melvin Street McCoy and Mable Lucille McCoy (née Pearce) in Winnemucca on September 18, 1941.
He grew up in the home that his parents built for the family in the 1940’s on Bridge St. alongside his brother Milton McCoy. He had a typical American childhood, which isn’t so typical anymore: playing outdoors, family get-togethers, hunting and fishing, boy scouts, school sports, and learning the carpenter’s trade from his father.
He attended Winnemucca Grammar School and earned his diploma from Humboldt County High School on June 1, 1961.
After high school, Stanley did his military service in the Nevada National Guard, having trained at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Thereafter, he worked for the railroad for a year and then with McCoy Builders along with his father and brothers.
Eventually, he started his own business as a general contractor under his own license in 1979. Stanley was a highly skilled contractor and took on every job, from small-scale repairs to building family homes.
However, he was especially known for his custom-made cabinets.
Stanley married Jean Kirker, sister of his childhood friend Jim Kirker, on November 20, 1965, at the home of the bride’s parents on Lay St.
The ceremony was officiated by Justice of the Peace James Howard.
The couple went on to build their own home on Lahontan Ave. and eventually had two sons Joe McCoy and Brett Kirker McCoy, who grew up at that residence.
In the late 1990’s, the couple began construction on a second home located on Rose Creek Rd., where they spent their final years.
Stanley was known to be an honest, fair-dealing man with sense of humor and kind disposition.
He pursued a number of hobbies over the decades including hunting and fishing, piloting small aircraft, collecting arrowheads and other artifacts, and restoring antiques, including antique engines vehicles.
He was a master carpenter, combining the McCoy family tradition of building and contracting work with the artistic ability that runs so deep in Pearce family.
He was a Nevada original who loved his family and lived the way he saw fit without rancor or ill will.
Stanley was preceded in death by wife Jean in 2018, having been married for fifty-three years.
He was also preceded in death by his father Melvin in 1992, his sister Doris Ruby Sheppard in 2003, and his mother Mable in 2009.
He is survived by brothers Joseph Wesley McCoy and Milton Pearce McCoy; his sons Joe and Brett (Kristina); his grandchildren, Evan Kirker, Wyatt Stanley, and Karlee Allyn; as well as numerous cousins, nieces, and nephews.
The family would like to especially thank Angie’s Angels and Amy Amrhein for the wonderful care they provided Stanley in his final months.
A celebration of Stanley’s life will be held in the spring. The family may be contacted for further details.