Sally Richman McCoy

Sally Richman McCoy (Jan. 16, 1927 - Nov. 25, 2024) Sally Richman McCoy was born and raised in the Bronx, New York, by her Jewish parents who emigrated from Poland. She graduated from The City College of New York. She met George Franklin McCoy, a Cherokee citizen born and raised in Oklahoma, at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where they received their Masters Degrees in School Psychology. George and Sally married in 1951 and moved to Oklahoma where they had two sons, Robert and James. In 1958 George and Sally moved to Champaign, Illinois. George received a PhD in School Psychology from the University of Illinois in 1960, the year their daughter Melody was born. Sally became an avid and lifelong "Fighting Illini" football and basketball fan. In 1962 they moved to Normal, Illinois, where George was a Professor of Psychology at Illinois State University. In 1966 Sally began work as a School Psychologist for the Illinois public schools; first District 429 (Pontiac) and then District 5 (Normal). Sally also served on the McLean County Board of Health and was involved in the McLean County Association for Retarded Children. Both Sally and George were active members of the Illinois State and National Associations of School Psychologists. Sally is fondly remembered and highly regarded by multiple interns that she supervised and mentored who went on to advance school psychology in Illinois and nationwide. In 1980, George and Sally returned to Oklahoma, where George started his second career as a Psychologist with the U.S. Indian Health Service (IHS). They lived in Ada and had a pond, where Sally delighted in one of her favorite activities - fishing. She also volunteered for the U.S. Internal Revenue Service in Oklahoma City, preparing tax returns for the elderly and others. George's progression through the ranks in the IHS Behavioral Health Division took them to Phoenix, Arizona in 1984 and to Rockville, Maryland in 1991. In Phoenix, Sally taught early personal computer usage at the Paradise Valley Community College. In Maryland, she fulfilled a lifetime goal of working at a retail bank branch. In 1994, George and Sally again returned to Oklahoma and permanently settled in Tulsa. Sally volunteered at the Gilcrease Museum. In 2009, they moved to Zarrow Pointe. For decades, Sally and George traveled the world extensively, visiting six of the seven continents at least once, missing only Antarctica, and with New Zealand being their favorite foreign country. Sally and George also enjoyed ballroom dancing, doubles tennis, and duplicate bridge. Sally was preceded in death by her parents and her husband George. She is survived by her brother, Harold Richman, of New York City, and three children, Robert George McCoy (Chunyan Yan McCoy), James Anthony McCoy, and Melody Lynn McCoy (Thanh Van Nguyen). She also is survived by nine grandchildren, one great-granddaughter, three nephews and a niece. A Celebration of Life for Sally will be held at Zarrow Pointe in Tulsa on December 16, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. Donations in her name can be made to Zarrow Pointe, 2025 E. 71st St, Tulsa, OK, 74136. Fitzgerald Ivy Chapel, 918-585-1151

Sally Richman McCoy

January 16, 1927 - November 25, 2024