The Completely Unaverage Life of Jim Coy
- Morgan Miller
- Nov 23, 2020
- 8 min read
Updated: Nov 23, 2020
Born in 1938, James Coy was the next to youngest of nine children. He dropped out of school, moved from Johnstown to Pittsburgh, joined the military, and had his first heart attack all within 10 years. His first heart attack was just the first of five, and he has lived through a car accident that was fatal to his first wife Tina, a brain aneurysm, spinal meningitis, and three types of cancer. To say that he has had a colorful life would be an understatement.
Jim Coy is my grandfather. That man is the strongest and most resilient person I have ever met, and my family and I have always said that he has nine lives. Not only has he lived through these traumatic events, but he has lived through some incredible events as well. He has two wonderful daughters (my mother, Chinene, and my aunt, Heidi), he was able to remarry, he was able to purchase and run a restaurant with his current wife, Beckie, retire from working most of his life, and now has four grandchildren. Let's take a dive into my grandfather's past 82 years on this earth.
First, let's begin with a quick timeline of my grandfather's life so that you can get a sense of everything before we get into detail.
Childhood
James Edward Coy was born April 23, 1938 to Lester and Eletha Coy and was the next to youngest out of nine children - Phil, Lawrence, Vi, Rosie, Don, Lee, Nancy, & Jeanie! He was born in Johnstown, PA, the place of the famous Johnstown flood of 1889. He said some of his favorite memories growing up were laying on the concrete slab outside of his childhood home with his siblings and counting stars and catching fireflies. Another one of his favorite memories was sledding down his grandfathers driveway. The driveway was all downhill, and they would take horses down to pull the sleds back up the driveway!
My grandfather dropped out of school after the 9th grade, but was able to take a correspondence course to get his tenth grade diploma. After he was out of school, he worked on his family's farm. Around the age of 18, his brother Don asked him if he wanted to move from Johnstown to Pittsburgh - and he did!
12th Infantry Battalion
Soon after moving, my grandfather joined the United States Marine Corps Reserves. When asked why he joined, he said that he was dating a girl at the time and her brothers served and told him about it. After that, he just thought "hey, why not?" and off he went. His mother didn't even know that he had joined the military until he called her from his base in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina! He served from March 8, 1956 to March 13, 1961, until he was honorably medically discharged after having his first heart attack about a month before his 24th birthday. Whenever he had his first heart attack, he wasn't able to report in, and soon, the military police came looking for him because he was considered AWOL. All of his brothers have served in armed forces, except for his brother Don.
General Tire
After being discharged from the military, my grandfather had to find a new job. He began working for General Tire in Pittsburgh. Originally hired as a jockey to bring the cars in for the guys to work on, he was hired full time on his first day because they were so busy putting winter tires on cars! He said he worked 14 hours that day, and didn't even get to eat his lunch! General Tire is also where my grandfather met his first wife, Annamary, who had the nickname "Tina." She worked as a payroll clerk at General Tire, and he said he originally liked her because she was just like one of the guys - she would sit in the lunchroom and eat lunch with them and talk with them. Tina's mom lived in Latrobe, and she had to take a bus to visit, and their boss at General Tire asked if Tina could have a ride to Latrobe with my grandfather since he was driving up to Johnstown to visit his mother. That's where it all started!
Tina
After about a year or so of dating, my grandfather and Tina were married in a church in Homewood. They were married for several years before having their first daughter, my mother, Chinene Caroline on December 4, 1968. My grandfather told me a story about how when Tina was in labor with my mom, my grandfather was sitting in the waiting room watching the Three Stooges! Life was good for several years, raising Chinene together in the home that they just bought (that my grandfather still lives in to this day!).
However, things took a turn for the worse. On March 21, 1975, the family was driving to visit Tina's sister in Michigan when suddenly, the car swerved off of the road, hit the pole that indicated mileage on the turnpike, then hits the guardrail, rolls over a couple of times, hits a cement culvert, flipped twice, and landed in the water. Both Tina and my grandfather were flung from the car and Tina passed from the accident, and they believe she passed on impact, so she was not afraid. My grandfather came out of the accident with all of his ribs broken, many cuts, a twisted ankle, a punctured lung, and much more. My mom, Chinene, however, only came out with a couple of cuts and bruises. Neither my mom nor my grandfather remember the accident much, so all they have to go from are the police and witness reports.
Life after Tina was tough, both on my grandfather and my mom since my mom was so young, just going into first grade, and my grandfather was now a single father. In the beginning, their neighbor, Mrs. Cresley, would take my mom at night and put her to bed since my grandfather would work nights. Soon after though, they hired a live in house keeper, Mrs. Reese, that would stay at the house during the week to take care of my mom and the house.
Meeting Beckie
Not too long after the accident happened, my grandfather was set up on a blind date with my current grandmother, Rebecca, or Beckie. After only their third date, Jim asked Beckie to marry him - she said no! But with time and learning more about each other, on Christmas of 1976, my grandfather asked my grandmother to marry him, and this time, she said yes. The two were married June 25, 1977, and she was then able to help take care of the house and my mom, and my grandfather wasn't alone anymore.
80s & 90s
On March 25, 1980, the two had their first child together, Heidi Lynn. However, soon after having my Aunt Heidi, the union that my grandfather was in began to crumble and he was out of a job. With all of the stress of not having a job, having an eleven year old and a new born, my grandfather had his second heart attack.
In 1993, my grandfather had another, his third heart attack, that resulted in his first open heart surgery, a triple bypass. In the same year, my grandfather also had a brain aneurysm, and while in the hospital, developed spinal meningitis. He was in the hospital for over a month, and my mom wasn't sure if she would have her dad be able to walk her down the aisle at her May 1994 wedding.
The Hometown Restaurant was established in 1995. My grandparents bought the restaurant together and ran it together for 25 years until 2020 when they had to shut it down due to the coronavirus pandemic. Four years after buying the restaurant, my grandparents had their first grandchild: me! On September 24, 1999, my grandparents daughter Chinene, my mom, and her husband Trever had me.
2000-2020
In the early 2000s, my grandfather finally retired. He had worked almost all of his life, ranging in work from jobs on his family farm, to a mailing company, to General Tire, to Pittsburgh Container as a driver of a road sweeper, to a garbage truck driver (where he worked for 26 years!), to a landscaper, to a bus driver for Deer Lakes School District. He retired from driving school bus in 2003 after his 10 years there!
In 2007, my grandfather had a spot of skin cancer removed from his face, with careful checks being made after to make sure it had not spread. Then, on August 13 of the same year, my grandfather got his prostate cancer diagnoses. Some good news though! Soon after, on May 16, 2008, my cousin Carolynn was born, my grandparents second grandchild. Carolynn was born to my grandparents daughter Heidi and her husband Matt.
During 2009, my grandfather had his fourth heart attack, and they had to put a stent into his heart. But again, some good news! On April 11, 2010, Aurora Jean was born to my Aunt Heidi and Uncle Matt, my grandparents third grandchild. Sadly, also in 2010, on November 18, my grandfather had his fifth and most recent heart attack. This heart attack ended with his second open heart surgery, another triple bypass. After this heart attack, he also quit smoking after smoking for basically his whole life, since he was in his early teens.
Owen, my Aunt Heidi and Uncle Matt's third child was born on June 15, 2012, my grandparents fourth grandchild. Six years with basically no news, but on May 17, 2018, my grandfather got his lung cancer diagnoses, and he has been battling that ever since. He has gone through chemo and radiation treatments in the past two years, along with being diagnosed with congestive heart failure. Just this past year, he has fallen in his garage and broke his hip and they have also found a tumor near his collar bone. But he has fought it and he has fought it hard.
My Grandfather
My grandfather has seen, lived through, and done so many incredible things. He has been through the military, a marriage, the birth of two wonderful daughters, the death of his first wife, remarrying, five heart attacks, a brain aneurysm, spinal meningitis, buying and owning a successful restaurant with his wife for 25 years, retirement, three different forms of cancer, and four grandchildren. He has even read through the entirety of the Bible once, and even began reading it again a second time.
I was able to sit down with my grandma to talk with her about her life with my pap and their 43 years of marriage together.
When asked what the best moments of his life were, he said having his two girls and his four grandchildren. My grandfather has done a lot of things in his life, but the thing he is most proud of is the family that he has raised. He has no regrets in life, even when life threw the most it could at him. He is grateful for each moment. At the end of our interview, I asked my grandfather what the key to a good life was. He said "believing in the good Lord above. That’s the only thing that keeps me going. He has me here for a reason, I don’t know what it is, but it’s kept me going." My mom always says that God keeps sending him back because he has more to do here on Earth.
I am so thankful to call this man my grandfather. He has taught me how to be brave, strong, and resilient, and I hope that I can make him proud in my lifetime. My grandfather has so many stories to tell from his incredible life, and I am glad that I get to share them. So to sum up in a few words: James Coy - the man with nine lives and a million stories to tell.
To my pap, I am so proud to be your granddaughter and I hope I make you proud and did your life story justice.
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