- Date Of Birth: October 31, 1927
- Date Of Death: June 25, 2018
- State: Georgia
James Benjamin McKoy, Jr. (“Ben”), passed away peacefully at the age of 90 on Monday, June 25, 2018 at the Shell Point Retirement Community in Ft. Myers, FL, after a prolonged illness. Born on October 31, 1927, in Americus, Georgia, he was the only child of the late James Benjamin McKoy, Sr. and Ruby Strickland McKoy of Newnan, Georgia.
He was a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology and a veteran of the US Navy. Most of his career was spent as a chemical engineer in the nylon textile industry with Chemstrand/Monsanto. His first marriage was in 1947 to the late Martha Evelyn Johnson (1925-1994). They lovingly raised five children: Karen McKoy, Kathy McKoy; Colleen McKoy Story; Courtney McKoy; and J.B. McKoy, III. He is survived by all 5 children, 18 grandchildren, and 9 great-grandchildren (with one more expected).
His second marriage in 1998 was to the late Josephine Ann (“Jo Anne”) Minks Stratton (1930-2012). Always an avid world traveler with an insatiable curiosity for learning, he often took his family along to share in the adventures. Proud of his Scottish and Southern heritage, he especially enjoyed gathering four generations of family together and hosted three McKoy family reunions.
He loved the beauty of nature (especially McKoy Lake that he and his father built), the world’s many civilizations and foods, and was an avid gardener, hunter, and fisherman from an early age. He constantly tried to pass on his knowledge, skills, and love for those things to his descendants.
