Los
Angeles County
Biographies
GEORGE WASHINGTON McCOY, A. M., M. D.,
F. A. C. S.
A physician and surgeon of high
ideals, the late Dr. George W. McCoy devoted his talents to the service of
humanity, never seeking material gain, and was greatly beloved. With no advantages in his youth, he overcame
adverse circumstances, bending them to his will, and was internationally known
in his profession, which he followed in Los Angeles with notable success for
many years.
A native of Ohio, Dr. McCoy was born
on a farm near Bellebrook, January 14, 1871, and was
a son of Isaac and Lucinda (Allen) McCoy.
The father served as a chaplain in the Union Army during the Civil War,
and was permanently disabled while in the service and his son was obliged to
work for his own livelihood. Courageous
and self-reliant, he progressed in spite of handicaps, securing a college
education at the cost of earnest, untiring effort. He attended the Ohio Wesleyan University at
Delaware, that state, and received his A. B. and A. M. degrees, and his
scholarship won for him membership in Phi Beta Kappa, a national honorary
fraternity. Continuing his studies he
next enrolled in the Miami Medical College at Cincinnati which awarded him his
M. D. degree in 1904. Following his
graduation, Dr. McCoy was engaged in hospital work in Cincinnati, New York
City, Edinburgh, London and Vienna, gaining valuable experience in his
profession. In 1908 he joined his
brother, Dr. Thomas J. McCoy, and Dr. Albert C. Rogers, who had been established
in Los Angeles for twenty-five years in the practice of eye, ear, nose and
throat diseases, and he continued with them until their deaths and then carried
on the practice so that he was in active practice in this city for a quarter of
a century, achieving distinction as a specialist in the diseases of the eye,
ear, nose and throat. In his chosen
field of endeavor he had few equals and no superiors in this country. Impelled by a strong desire to be of service
to his fellowmen, he cared not for wealth, save as a man helping those in need,
and he aided many young men and women to obtain a medical education, and in his
self-abnegating labors he furnished one of the truest examples of his
altruistic life.
On June 11, 1908, at Westerly, Rhode
Island, Dr. McCoy was united in marriage with Elizabeth Collins, a daughter of
John E. and Alice (Gregory) Collins, natives of that state. John E. Collins was a retired merchant and
traced his lineage in this country to Henry Collins, who came to America in 1635,
settling in New England, where his family was one of prominence in colonial
days, and since that period the descendants have distinguished themselves in
various activities. Doctor and Mrs.
McCoy became the parents of three children:
Robert C., who was born October 7, 1909, and is preparing to follow in
the footsteps of his father; Georgia B., born March 5, 1914; and Helena S. A.,
born June 16, 1917.
Dr. McCoy was a thirty-second degree
Scottish Rite Mason and a Shriner. He
held membership in the Los Angeles County and the California Medical Societies,
and the American Medical Association, and was a Fellow of the American College
of Surgeons. He was a member of the
National Board of Medical Examiners; the Pacific Coast Oto-Ophthalmological
Society; a charter member of the Research Study Club of the Eye and Ear section
of the Los Angeles County Medical Society; a member of the Clinical and
Pathological Society of Los Angeles; the Symposium Society of Los Angeles; the
Los Angeles Ophthalmological Society; and the Los Angeles Society of
Ophthalmology and Oto-Laryngology. His articles, which appeared in medical
journals, were valuable contributions to the profession. Dr. McCoy died on April 21, 1932, when at the
zenith of his career, and although he has passed away the results of his work
will live after him through the coming generations. At his passing the Los Angeles Times said:
“Dr. McCoy was considered by medical
men as one of the nation’s leading experts in mastoid operations. His wide renown in this work brought him
patients from cities the world over. He
was the physician of the rich and prominent families of Los Angeles but cared
for literally thousands of the poor without charge. One of the works to which he gave much of his
time and interest was caring for the afflicted in the County Hospital, in which
he was chief of the eye staff. He was
also professor of eye, ear, nose and throat medicine
at the University of Southern California Medical School. He was considered the greatest expert in America
in the mastoid operation and worked both day and night whenever danger
threatened a patient. His own illness
and final attack is described by fellow physician to his devotion to a
profession the cares of which exhausted his own vitality.”
On April 25, 1932, when Dr. McCoy’s
funeral was held, nearly one thousand men and women from all walks of life,
including scores of physicians and surgeons of high standing, gathered at the
Wilshire Presbyterian Church to pay tribute to his memory. A wealth of flowers was sent to the church
from various parts of the southland, giving evidence of the esteem in which Dr.
McCoy was held. Services at the church
were in charge of the Westgate Lodge of Masons, to which the doctor belonged,
and many members of the fraternity were present. Rev. Dr. J. Lowrey Fendrich, Jr., the local pastor, and Dr. William R. Molony, president of the Los Angeles County Medical
Society, took part in the services.
Interment was in the Sanctuary of Praise at Forest Lawn Mausoleum. Of him it may well be said:
“He
has joined the choir invisible
Of
those immortal dead
Who
live again
In
lives made better by their presence.”
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: California of the South
Vol. III, by John Steven McGroarty, Pages 469-471, Clarke Publ.,
Chicago, Los Angeles, Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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NUGGET'S LOS ANGELES BIOGRAPIES