Chris McCoy, 62

Chris McCoy, 62, passed away on April 9, 2014 after a valiant battle with a germ that proved even stronger than him. His passion for work, life, and love will be missed by those he touched.

A celebration of Chris’s life was held Wednesday, April 16, 2014 at St. Phillips Episcopal Church in Belmont, NY.

Chris spent his formative years in southern California, enthusiastically embracing all the 1960s had to offer.

Summer camping trips throughout the west, especially the Sierra Nevada, gave him an enduring love of the natural world.

After a tour with Uncle Sam, Chris found a home in the forest products world working a variety of jobs from a green chain puller to manager at mills in California, Idaho and Washington.

Having come up through the ranks, Chris embraced a worker-based management style. Long-term employee health, satisfaction and security were his primary concerns. A relative newcomer to New York, Chris was enthusiastically embarking on a new chapter of his life as mill manager of Phillips Angelica Forest Products in Angelica, N.Y.

Chris provided guidance, hope, and inspiration to countless people striving to renew their lives.

He is survived by Barbara Gagnat McCoy, his loving wife; Megan Schulz and Darcy McCoy, daughters he was immensely proud of; Kaitlin, his precocious granddaughter; and Katie, Bob, and Matt McCoy, his sister and brothers.