My friendship with Barclay McCoy is one that I will treasure forever. We journeyed many projects together including the artwork for her building pictured on this page. In November of 2016, I shared a eulogy that captures only a glimpse of the wonderful friend she was to me: Kind. Gracious. Colorful. Visionary. Real.  As Carrie has so well put it “Barclay was an inspiring businesswoman, loving mother and unforgettable friend”. She was nurturing and she created a family environment wherever she was whether it was as a trustee in the church, president of a club, on the board of an organization, in her home or in her company. She was independent and private. I was privileged to be her friend. When we were together we talked about ideas, dreams and solutions, and the community projects we were involved in were not problems but challenges. When we were in meetings together– when she was in charge—I loved how she conducted a meeting, she would talk until everyone agreed! The only people we talked about were our family and our common desire was to see our daughters become all we knew they could be.  We shared our joys of supporting them as they become lawyers and Carrie a doctor. She was so proud of you both, Meredith and Carrie! You know you always had her support and love, now she has joined the great cloud of witnesses who are always cheering you on. And we rejoiced over the wonder of grand children. We talked about how our amazing daughters were wonderful mothers, about how their lives were different from ours and what our grands would face as adults. Barclay had a generational worldview; her life focus was to release life giving generational blessings. And she did that in many ways, her legacy will live on in her family and her work.

McCoy & McCoy, her work and her life were one in the same.  She told me once that Jay prepared her well to take over and she knew what needed to be done to put her company on a path for growth and success in the 21st century. She saw the reorganization in 1997 as one of her greatest accomplishments and the fruit of that was the amazing building project in 2005 & 2006. It was during that time her faith in God grew as well. She not only had a land blessing at the ground breaking and supported prayer meetings among the staff but talked about the many ways God blessed the details of the project from the unity of all the companies involved to the safety of the workers to the support of the McCoy team.  She involved me in some of the decorating decisions and asked me to develop some collages. They were to be gifts to the ten companies who were working on the building. Each one was to have the company logo, McCoy & McCoy logo, a leaf from the old property and a leaf from the new land as well as construction elements of metal or tile. As they developed she decided to keep them to honor the companies and hang them together in the hall. I protested that if I had known I would have framed them differently and she said that was the best part they were very different. Who thinks like that! She really was an amazing person!

Because she had such a creative mind she loved to see what I was creating and after I opened downtown she would often drop in to visit me in the studio. We would talk and catch up and usually she would buy something. I told her one time she did not have to buy something every time she dropped it, I was just glad to be with her and she said that was not the problem, she loved everything I did. And her family loved to get my pottery! We had the most fun when she was planning weddings o my we designed such treasures!  I will never forget seeing how she decorated with my clay butterflies and flower ornaments! No one encouraged me as an artist more than Barclay. I am so grateful.

She was an encourager.  She saw the best in people and drew it out, encouraging you to be the best you could be–an amazing and rare trait in a person.  Hers was born from loss, and making a choice early in her life that she would look for the best in people and she did. Each one of us has a memory of her kindness.  Remember that.  We can honor the life of this amazing woman best by doing the same. I see the treasure in people because of my friendship with Barclay. I want to close with a quote, the author is unknown. Glema and I loved this quote, I shared it with Barclay one time and she loved it as well.

I often think that people we have loved and who have loved us—not only make us more human—but they become a part of us and we carry them around all the time—whether we see them or not….and in some ways we are a sum total of those who have loved us and those we have given ourselves to.

No greater tribute than to say I am a better person because Barclay McCoy was my friend.