Obituary of Kathleen McCoid

Kathleen McCoid 1928-2013 Kathleen Grace McCoid, a native New Yorker who made a home in South Tacoma for 60 years, died peacefully Dec. 1 at age 85. Kathy was born October 15, 1928, in Staten Island, NY. Her family of five resided on Long Island, NY until the early 1930s, when the Great Depression forced them to move to a Manhattan apartment owned by her maternal grandfather. She spent her youth as an urban New Yorker, taking the subway to St. Monica's grammar school and roller skating past the Empire State Building. She attended Cathedral High School, graduated in 1945 at age 16, and began work as a office girl for Time-Life magazine. In October 1945 her family traveled to Montrose, CO for the wedding of Kathy's big sister, Marian. Bewitched by the beauty of western Colorado, the Boylan family never returned to Manhattan. Mom, a devout Catholic, fell in love with Francis "Pat" McCoid, whose family sat in front of hers at Sunday mass. They were married on August 3, 1947, and honeymooned in the scenic alpine mining town of Telluride, CO, before moving into a Civilian Conservation Corps camp and starting a family. Pat found work in Tacoma in 1953 and Kathy headed west to meet him, boarding a train with three children in hand and one on the way. A year later the family moved to their home on Prospect Street in South Tacoma. Kathy was proud of being a New Yorker and an Irish Catholic (the Boylan family dog was named Irish). She was quick to reminisce about such things as skipping school to line up for Frank Sinatra at Radio City Music Hall, sneaking into Time-Life publisher Henry Luce's office and sitting at his desk, attending masses officiated by then-New York archbishop Francis Spellman, and swimming in the Atlantic ocean. As a young child, she spent time in the hospital after being run down by a truck on a New York street, an ordeal that made a colorful tale. Even in her final years, she could dredge up fascinating new accounts of her childhood. While telling the stories, her New York accent would gradually reassert itself. In Montrose, Kathy had a series of automobile mishaps that culminated in a fender-bender with the hitching post at St. Mary's Catholic Church. She gave up driving, but was a familiar sight on Tacoma buses, as were her footsore children. She was a thrifty housewife who always made ends meet, kept a tidy home, and relentlessly pursued the education of her children. All six of her children attended Visitation Catholic School and have been blessed with productive, happy lives. They have Mom to thank for that. Thanksgiving dinners at the McCoid house were packed with relatives, and usually included at least one other person who had nowhere else to go for the holiday. Mom did her own share of the bread-winning, working as a night maid at Mountain View Funeral Home, as a nurses aide, and as a member of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners. She instilled the work ethic in her children, sending them to work at Chase's blueberry field each summer to learn the value of a dollar. Kathy was preceded in death by her husband, Francis Patrick McCoid; parents Thomas and Catherine Boylan; sister Marian; and brother Tom. She is survived by six children: Steven (Collier) of Salem, OR, Pat (Margie) of Gig Harbor, Judy (Dan) of Edmonds, Nancy (Tom) of Seattle, Tom (Kim) of Salem, and Paul (Linda) of West Linn, OR, as well as 12 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren. The family would like to thank the staff at Baxter House in Salem, OR, for their loving care of Kathy during her final months. Memorials may be made to Visitation Catholic School, 3306 S. 58th St, Tacoma, WA 98409. Services will be 11 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 12, at Visitation Catholic Church, South 58th and Warner streets, Tacoma. Rosary will precede services at 10:30 a.m. Reception to follow at parish hall. Burial at Calvary Cemetery will follow reception.