Dr. Ronald Wayne McCoy, M.D., FACP went to be with The Lord on February 6, 2022. He was 81 years old. He was born in Memphis, TN while his father was working there as a welder. The McCoy family soon after moved to Robinson, Illinois, their hometown.
Dr. McCoy graduated from Robinson High School in 1958, where he excelled at track and field. He then attended Wabash College, in Crawfordsville, Indiana, where he received a bachelor’s degree in zoology in 1962. He was a member of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity at Wabash. Dr. Ronald met and fell in love with Louise Gray while at Wabash College and they married in 1963 after Louise graduated from Depauw University (Greencastle, IN). The newlyweds settled in Chicago where Dr. Ronald was attending the University of Illinois Medical School in Chicago. After earning his M.D. degree, he did a oneyear internship and a three-year residency in internal medicine at Cook County Hospital, in Chicago, IL. While at Cook County Hospital, he served as the president of the Interns and Residents Association and was a patient advocate. He loved to tell the story of when he was personally reprimanded by the famous/infamous Mayor Daley of Chicago for his advocacy. Apparently Dr. Ronald’s actions for the young doctors and patients at Cook County, one of the largest hospitals in the country, angered Mayor Daley. Dr. Ronald took the tongue lashing from the powerful mayor as a badge of honor. He then joined the United States Air Force in 1970 as a Captain and was stationed at Warner Robins AFB, where he was second in command of the base hospital. He was promoted to the rank of Major and finished his two year commitment and was honorably discharged. The Air Force wanted him to remain and promised further promotions, but he chose to move to Sheffield, AL after being recruited by Drs. Archie Carmichael and Winston Williams to join their group practice. The practice was located in downtown Sheffield in the professional building next to Medical Center Pharmacy. Mr. Gene Aycock was the pharmacist and owner of Medical Center Pharmacy at that time, and he and Dr. Ronald became fast friends. In the mid-1980s, Dr. Ronald went out on his own and moved to the medical office building at Shoals Hospital in Muscle Shoals, where he remained until the 1990s. It was at that time that he joined Dr. Jim Ashmore at Avalon Medical Center on East Avalon Avenue, where Avalon Medical Group is currently located. He retired in December 2020 at the new Avalon Medical Group building and was given a hero’s send off and a retirement party at George’s 217 in Sheffield which was attended by his family and close friends and colleagues.
Dr. Ronald McCoy served the community of The Shoals for fifty years and was considered to be the Doctor’s Doctor. He truly was passionate about the practice of internal medicine. He would tell anyone willing to listen how much he loved being a doctor and taking care of his patients. He was revered and loved by his patients and highly regarded by his colleagues, nurses, doctors and administrators alike. He served on countless committees and Helen Keller Hospital and Shoals Hospital and was Chief of Staff and Chairman of Medicine at various times at those institutions.
Dr. Ronald McCoy loved aviation, horses, his farms, antique cars, and antique tractors. He loved to travel and quite literally traveled the world, even visiting Russia and Poland when they were part of the USSR. He also traveled to South America, Mexico, Canada, other parts of Europe, Africa, and all 50 states of the USA. He loved Wilson Lake and bought a lake house there in 1974 and eventually built his final home overlooking the lake he loved so much in 1997. He always said that he loved the people and the lakes of The Shoals area. But what he loved the most was his family. Raised with three brothers and three sisters in rural Illinois, he farmed for his father starting at the tender age of 10. His father worked for Marathon Oil Company in Robinson, IL as a welder and also farmed; while his mother raised the seven children and kept the house. They were not poor, but Dr. Ronald never knew any extravagance as a child. The family and seven children shared a two bedroom/one bathroom house. He put himself through college and medical school.
Although he suffered many ailments later in life, surviving colon cancer in 1991 (under the excellent care of Dr. Kenneth Copeland), a spinal infection in the 2000s, and later renal cancer that would rob him of a kidney, he never quit or complained and quite honestly practiced medicine until he could no longer. He died surrounded by his family while in palliative care after suffering complications of end stage renal disease and Covid-19.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Esther and Loren McCoy; his sisters, Sharon and Lynda McCoy, and his brother, John McCoy (Linda).
He is survived by his loving wife of 59 years, Louise McCoy; his son, Dr. Loren McCoy (Caroline); his daughter, Molly Hood (Jason); his grandsons, Gray and Will McCoy; his granddaughter, Kaylee Grimmitt (Chayton); his great-granddaughter, Nella Jase Grimmitt; his brothers, Larry McCoy and Terry McCoy (Rhea); his sister, Becky Taylor (Leon), and multiple nieces and nephews.
Pallbearers will be Dr. Loren McCoy, Mr. Phillip Flannagin, Dr. Terry Hart, Mr. Gene Aycock, Gray McCoy, Will McCoy, Mr. Larry McCoy, and Mr. Terry McCoy. Honorary pallbearers will be Mr. Lee Watkins, Mr. Hal Livingston, Mr. Tyrus Mansell, Dr. Kenneth Rose, Dr. Rajesh Boorgu, Mr. Jerry Mills, Dr. Bill Heaton, and Mr. Mike Fiaschetti.
The family would like to sincerely thank Drs. Kenneth Rose, Rajesh Boorgu, Felix Morris, Bill Heaton, Stephen Howell, as well as the staff of JW Sommer (especially Stacy Williams), the nurses from NAMC, Helen Keller Hospital Fourth Central (especially Beverly), Alabama Hospice, and The Summit (MHRNC).
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Wabash College Scholarship Fund or the First United Methodist Church of Sheffield (the Faith In Action Community Fund or the church’s music fund).
There will be a funeral service open to the public, which will be led by Dr. Tom Whatley at Colbert Memorial Chapel (700 Hwy. 43 S., Tuscumbia, AL) at noon on Wednesday, February 9, 2020.
