Donation names family suite for McCoys at Ave Maria Village

Ave Maria Village has announced the naming of the Rev. N.E. and Lillian McCoy Family Suite at its facility.

The Rev. N.E. McCoy and his wife, Lillian, began their broadcasts on KSJB Radio on March 14, 1937. Today, McCoy’s children and grandchildren carry on the ministry.

“I don’t think my father dreamed it would last this long,” said Arva Dell Tahran, who with her son, Bryce, is on the air every morning.

McCoy read from Scripture, and he and Lillian sang hymns. They aired their message together every day until 1992, when the Rev. N.E. McCoy died. Arva Dell’s minister husband, Elmo, stepped in to continue the ministry. Lillian too, carried on the tradition until she was 91 years old. She sang on the air for the last time the day she went into the hospital. She died in 2000.

Each morning during their years on the radio, McCoy shared the names of people in the hospital asking the radio community to pray for them. Bryce said his grandfather visited the hospital every morning before his broadcast so his information was up to date on the patients.

The reason, Bryce said, was simple: There weren’t many telephones in the area and farmers couldn’t spend a lot of time driving back and forth to town if their loved ones were hospitalized. “So my dad started giving the hospital report,” Arva Dell said.

“We are honored to have mom and dad’s name on the Family Suite,” Arva Dell said. “It will be a quiet and peaceful place for family and resident in their last days. Mom and dad would be proud to be associated with this project. They were ministers to all people, no matter what their faith, just as this new chapel, transport center and family suite serve all faiths.”

Tim Burchill, AMV CEO, said, “We are honored and excited to dedicate a space at AMV to Rev. and Mrs. McCoy. The McCoys had a positive impact on thousands of lives in the Jamestown area, many of whom were residents of our facility.”

Tom Geffre, AMV chaplain, added, “I, too, grew up listening to the McCoy Ministry with my grandmother. I am very pleased to have the Family Suite named for this faith-filled, ecumenical couple.”

For more information about making a gift to Ave Maria Village’s Capital Campaign, call 252-5660 or go to AMV’s website, www.avemariavillage.org, where online donations can be made.

The Ave Maria Village Capital Campaign will bring an all faiths chapel, an enclosed transport center, and a family suite for residents in their last days, onto the AMV campus.

Tags: life, religion