McCoy, 91, dies; helped other seniors for decades

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Elizabeth "Beth" McCoy, a 91-year-old Scotland resident who died Saturday at an assisted-living facility in Annapolis, was remembered this week for her decades of help to fellow senior citizens in St. Mary's County.

McCoy played an integral role beginning almost 40 years ago to bring together three clubs of older county residents to form Interfaith Volunteers, an organization that held monthly meetings and holiday parties, and ensured that their basic needs were met.

McCoy earlier championed preservation issues and historical awareness, and those efforts contributed to projects and events at Historic St. Mary's City.

"That woman was a godsend. She was her brother's keeper," Idolia Shubrooks said Tuesday.

Shubrooks approached St. Mary's officials in 1972 to organize the seniors' groups, and soon received assistance from McCoy and Grace Loffler.

"Mrs. Loffler and Beth McCoy, they were the ones that really helped, … the vital part of those functions," Shubrooks said. "They would get a group of people to work with them. It was people of all faiths. It served so many needs."

The combined groups soon moved their monthly meetings and holiday celebrations to VFW Post 2632 in California, where for 27 years, chaplain Liz Yerdon cooked the dinners and McCoy coordinated the events.

"She was just an amazing woman. She was on top of everything," Yerdon said this week. "She didn't forget anyone. She made sure everyone had something for Christmas."

The Interfaith Volunteers program included a fund to make sure people in need had heating oil during the winter, Shubrooks said, and McCoy took the time to find holiday gifts that would be helpful to the recipient.

"She picked out something that these people really needed," Shubrooks said.

McCoy was born in Washington, D.C. and she moved in 1941 with her husband, Frederick L. McCoy, to St. Gabriel's Manor, a 165-acre farm on the Potomac River. Their historic preservation work included key roles in campaigns to protect the Potomac River, stop the building of a proposed oil refinery at Piney Point and support the reconstruction of the English Colonies' first Catholic Church at St. Mary's City. She also led efforts to preserve the Cedar Point Lighthouse Cupola at Patuxent River Naval Air Station.

The family will receive friends from 5 to 8 p.m. today, Wednesday, at St. Michael's Catholic Church in Ridge, with prayers recited at 7 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11 a.m. on Thursday.

Memorial contributions may be made to St. Michael's School, P.O. Box 259, Ridge, MD 20680 or Historic St. Mary's City Chapel Fund, P.O. Box 24, St. Mary's City, MD 20686.

jwharton@somdnews.com