True Bloom Legend Has Passed

By Donna Filips McCoy ‘72

I met Larry McCoy ’71 on a Bloom school bus going from “Little Bloom” (now Trail) to “Big Bloom”. I was 13 and trying out for cheerleading and he was a sophomore that was just brought up to the Varsity Bloom basketball team. His ambition took him far from Chicago Heights as he became a Wisconsin Badger where he got an education degree and a masters in Family and Clinical Psychology and spent most of his adult life in the town he loved; Madison, Wisconsin.

But he never forgot his roots and his love for his alma mater Bloom High School. When complications arose about his residency to go to Bloom after his mother moved to Beacon Hills, he said if he couldn’t play basketball at Bloom, he wouldn’t play at all. History tells us that he did play for Coach Wes Mason who was like a father to him, and continued his basketball success from Bloom to Wisconsin. He often talked about when he arrived at U of W he had to fight to get out of the physical education track they put him in. He was determined to take advantage of the opportunities his talent gave him and studied for a lifelong career that he was passionate about; helping other people.

While in Wisconsin, Larry worked through the University, counseling athletes on emotional issues that affected their studies and playing performances. He was well known as “Marcus McCoy”, not only for basketball, but as an elite tennis player in the Madison circuit and for his work at the University. He later secured a grant and started the “Off the Square Club”, a successful facility for mentally ill men.

But when his mother became ill, Larry returned to his roots. He spent time at Grand Prairie Services counseling schizophrenic adults. But his love for Bloom kept drawing him back to the school. In 1998, he attended some meetings to discuss Bloom’s Centennial. He proposed a plan and for the next two years he worked with Paul Nykaza ’84, president of the Bloom Foundation to run the most magnificent celebrations highlighting Bloom’s 100 years of excellence that brought back over 5,000 alums between two weekends of celebrations. Throughout these two years, Larry worked with the newspapers to highlight every week one of our highly successful alums, from Jerry Colangelo’57 to Lou Helton ‘68 to David Broder ’46 to Jan Johnson ‘68 and more. Nobel peace prize winners, actors, Olympic medalist, professional athletes, famous musicians were brought to the forefront and made everyone aware of what a rich and legendary history our school has. Not only was it a celebration of pride for our National Landmark School, but it brought in over a quarter of a million dollars of support for our future students to continue with our legacy.

Continuing to give back to Bloom School District 206, Larry worked with the Behavior Disorder program at Bloom Trail and developed a program (PIR – Positive Intervention Reinforcement) to help troubled students learn coping skills in the classroom instead of facing continual suspensions. He rallied all of the African-American men working at Trail to be mentors and set examples for the young black males. Staff such as legendary basketball guard Claude White’69 and more, wore ties and dress clothes to school, counseled students and encouraged and supported them at their extra curriculum activities.

After retirement, McCoy continued to give back to District 206. He helped out in the Archives with Nancy Cavallo Bawolek ’72 and archivist and longtime Trail librarian Donald Croarkin. He proposed an extension of the Bloom High School Alumni Association and created the Bloom Alumni Athletic Association (BAAA) in 2015. From this he created the Trojan Nation with the theme of “Giving Back”. He encouraged successful athletes and coaches from Bloom’s past to “Give Back” to current and future students. These legends became mentors to youth from our feeder schools through the Joe Chapman Trail ’02 Summer Clinics. During this event, Joe Chapman, other athlete alums and coaches would provide youngsters with life coaching, skills teaching and inspirational talks centered on their successes and struggles from Bloom and beyond. The youngsters were provided nutritional meals, t-shirts, resources, and life changing experiences. It was ended with a friendly fundraising basketball game, fondly called the “Civil War”, between Trail and Bloom where the youngsters were treated to a great show of skill by our basketball legends.

Also in the spirit of preserving Bloom District 206 sports history and raising monies for the schools, McCoy started the Bobby Bell Awards to exemplify the service of the late Bobby Bell ’57 and others who exhibited his passion and giving to Bloom students and athletes. The event, held twice now, was highlighted with speaker Coach Steve Miller, who attributes his success to Bloom High School and went on to become the CEO of Andre Agassi Foundations and the Head of the United States Track and Field Federation, to name a few of his many accomplishments. It brought back coaches and athletes from all over the United States to relive our sports history, educate the youth and adults of what a great history we have and bring about the true Spirit of being a Bloom Trojan. No words can express what a gym filled with dedicated and passionate coaches and alums reliving the highlights and accomplishment s of Bloom sports does to the attendees. It was an indescribable feeling of pride and belonging to this great school.

Throughout these past few years, Larry McCoy exhibited signs of poor health in which he pushed himself through the long days to execute the events he was so passionate about. He had a long year of decreasing health in which he was asked to slow down and focus on doing less. When I asked him what was one thing he would want to accomplish still he replied “another Bobby Bell Awards Dinner.” From his hospital bed and with the help of Steve Miller, Larry got his wish. On September 15, 2018 he returned home after 9 months in medical facilities and made it to the Bobby Bell Awards. His speech was limited (as we all know how long winded he could be), but his socializing with big. Terry Boers ‘68, Tom Erikson ‘82, LeRoy Jackson ‘58, Marilyn Anderson, Tom Koenig, Ernest Turner ‘64 and Walter Futrell Trail ‘77 were honorees that helped produced a great evening of walking down memory lane. Larry was in his glory, surrounded by what he loved.

In tribute to Larry McCoy and in lieu of flowers, please donate to Bloom Trojan Nation at Bloom Alumni Athletic Association / Archives 100 W. 10th Street Chicago Heights, IL 60411.