Frances S. McCoy

Frances S. McCleerey McCoy

Frances S. McCleerey McCoy, 81, died March 3, 1997, at a nursing home in Corvallis, Ore. Private burial will be in late spring or early summer at McCall Cemetery in McCall, Idaho. Memorials are to Dogs for the Deaf, c/o DeMoss-Durdan Garden Chapel, 815 NW Buchanan, Corvallis, Ore., 97330.

She was born Sept. 13, 1915, in Smithland, Iowa, the fifth of seven children of John William and S. Margaret Lloyd McCleerey.

She graduated from Smithland High School, then moved to Lusk, where she worked as a housekeeper.

In November of 1936, she married Maynard H. Hoy, and had two children, Susan, and then Margaret, who died at birth.

In 1951, the family moved to Worland and then Frances and Maynard divorced in 1954, and she moved back to Lusk. In July of 1956, she married Thomas M. McCoy, and they moved to Long Valley, Idaho, the next spring.

They returned to Lusk in 1961, and he died in December of 1963. In 1964, Frances moved to McCall, Idaho, and began work as a cook at Shepp Ranch on the Salmon River. In the years that followed, she also cooked at Kelly Creek Ranger Station for the U.S. Forest Service, and at Payette Lake Nursing Home in McCall. In 1976, she retired to Siletz, Ore., to be with her daughter, then built a home for herself on several acres in the Newport, Wash. area. In November of 1993, she moved in with her daughter in the Oakville area of Linn County, Ore.

She enjoyed hard work, working outdoors at anything from raising rabbits to gardening to clearing land. Until her stroke, she loved to crochet and made beautiful handmade quilts. She was a member of First Baptist Church of Siletz, Ore., and Royal Neighbors of America.

She was preceded in death by brothers Floyd McCleerey of the Lusk/Manville area, Earl McCleerey of Hendersonville, N.C., and Ralph McCleerey, who was killed in World War II.

Survivors include daughter Susan Pannanen; and granddaughters Anna Pannanen, Terrie Hogan and Kerrie Barnes, all of Albany, Ore.; brother Owen McCleerey of Florence, Mont.; sister Wilma Hoy of Spokane, Wash.; and great-grandchildren John, Beth, Christopher and Erin.

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