A Lifetime of Love for Family and Community

February 14, 2020

A blind date. That's all it took to start a lifetime of love for family and community for Bob and Betty McCoy.

Bob, a WWII veteran and Waterloo native, met Betty in her hometown of Madison, Wisconsin where he had graduated from college. Immediately after being married, the couple moved to Waterloo where Bob was publisher at the Waterloo Courier for 31 years. Betty remained at home dedicating her time and devoting her life to their three children, Jack, Kathy and Bill.

For 47 years of marriage, the couple lived in Waterloo, raising their children and nurturing the community through volunteer efforts with many charitable causes. Their loyalty and love of community made it a better place, not only for their children, but for everyone.

Bob and Betty also understood the importance of giving back financially to the community during their lifetime, and worked with the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa to leave a permanent legacy for the community they loved.

In 1994, they established a Charitable Remainder Trust naming the Community Foundation as the beneficiary.

Bob passed away in April, 2000, and after Betty's death in January, 2016, the Robert J. and Elizabeth G. McCoy Endowment Fund was established to benefit charities in their hometown.

It is just one more gift to add to a long legacy of giving according to son, Jack McCoy.

"This gift to the endowment fund personifies our parents’ lifelong commitment to Waterloo, but is only one of many gifts to universities, relatives, friends and strangers they learned needed a hand," said Jack.

Kathy McCoy, daughter and fund advisor, echoes the kindness and generosity her parents modeled every day for family and community.

"Anything about my brothers and me that is good or kind or nice comes directly from our parents,” said Kathy. “They truly lived their lives as everyone should, as good, kind, compassionate people.”

Together, Bob and Betty were role models in showing the importance of taking ownership of one's community and treating it with the same respect you treat your own family.

"The community was their life,” said Kathy. "They wanted nothing but the best for Waterloo and the whole community."