Carol Dene Boling McCoy

Carol Dene Boling McCoy died Friday evening June 7, 2019, at her home in Natchitoches Louisiana. As she had often wished, 95-year-old Carol died peacefully. While considering her first ripening tomato of the year, her conversation simply drifted away. She had had a busy, fulfilling day shopping for a new pair of shoes and had bought and planted a pepper plant in her small patio garden. Carol’s life was marked by her creative, optimistic and energetic spirit; her generosity and support of others; and great love for her family and friends. Carol was born in a farmhouse near Clarence in rural northeast Missouri. She had great stories about getting to the one-room schoolhouse that she and her sister attended, riding in a small cart pulled by their pony, old Shorty. When the snowfall was too deep for Shorty, they walked above the snow on top of the fenceposts, wearing thick wool melton-cloth clothing. She told of the day she got off the school bus from high school and heard music coming from the house for the first time. Her father had purchased a radio in anticipation of the arrival of electricity, and she knew it had arrived. After high school graduation in 1942, Carol attended Chillicothe Business College in Missouri. During WWII she worked in the U.S. Quarter Master’s Office in Kansas City where she danced in the street in front of the Meuhlebach Hotel on VJ Day. She then attended the University of Missouri in Columbia where she and her future husband, Ray, met as students. She graduated in 1948 and married Ray the same year. She worked for the U.S. Forestry Service while Raymond finished his Master’s degree. She took several years off from working outside the home to care for their three children in Columbia, Neosho, and Springfield, Missouri, as well as Natchitoches, Louisiana. During this time her husband completed his terminal degree, a doctorate in psychology. Carol lived in Natchitoches for the rest of her life. She taught at the Natchitoches Trade School (now Technical College) while finishing a Master’s at NSU. She then taught at the School of Business at NSU until she retired in 1985. She and her good friends Faye Norman and Chris Manning opened Cane Heritage Realty in 1985, operating the business until its sale in 2010. She continued to work there part-time for several years, afterward. Carol McCoy was preceded in death by her parents Oscar and Mildred Boling, her sister Kathleen Boling Fortenberry, all of Clarence, Missouri, and her husband of 27 years, Raymond A. McCoy, who died in Natchitoches in 1975. Carol is survived by her three children: Karen of Kansas City, Missouri; Bret of nearby Bossier City, Louisiana; and Roger of Swannanoa, North Carolina. Carol was immensely proud of her children and grandchildren. Her grandchildren include Stacy McCoy Calligas of Denver, Colorado; David McCoy of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Brian McCoy of Shreveport, Louisiana; and Raleigh McCoy of San Francisco, California. These four were the light of her life, as she delighted in their accomplishments. She also has two great-grandchildren, those of Stacy and Jason Calligas: Claire and William. Carol was a Methodist from an early age when she joined the church of her childhood, Bacon’s Chapel, and later the First Methodist Church of Natchitoches. She was an avid traveler. She and Raymond traveled extensively in the US, Canada, and Mexico, plus Europe in 1974 (the first of several visits). After Ray’s death, she traveled to Japan, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Greece, Scandinavia, Russia, England, Ireland, Morocco, India, and Pakistan. Carol loved gardening, her friends, a hand of bridge and Cane River Lake. She befriended many university students and people she met through her work from all walks of life, and she helped them if they fell on hard times. She continued her involvement with these people for many years, speaking with several even in the weeks just before her death. There will be a visitation at Blanchard-St. Denis Funeral Home on Keyser Avenue in Natchitoches on Tuesday, June 11 from 5-8 pm. Services will be held at the First United Methodist Church, 411 2nd St, Natchitoches on Wednesday, June 12 at 10 am with Reverend Doug DeGraffenried officiating. Burial will follow at Memory Lawn Cemetery, Natchitoches. Pallbearers will be David McCoy, Brian McCoy, Raleigh McCoy, Stacy McCoy Calligas, Trinity George, Brenda Hall, Martin, and Monte Jay Fortenberry. Suggested for memoriam in lieu of flowers, please send a donation to the First Methodist Church, 411 2nd St, Natchitoches, 71457, Emergency Fund to Help Those in Need or to the charity of your choice. Carol’s family would like to express gratitude to all her community of friends whose company she so enjoyed. Ramona Meziere, one of mom’s caregivers said, “I will never forget her kindness and her smile”.