Arthur H. Coy, who was born and raised in Westerly, died peacefully on Dec. 17, 2016, at age 92. He overcame deafness to become a successful aircraft engineer.
He was born in Westerly on May 31, 1924. He was educated at Rhode Island School for the Deaf, where he learned to read lips; Westerly High School; Mount Hermon Academy (now Northfield Mount Hermon); and Rhode Island State College (now the University of Rhode Island). He spent his entire career at Pratt & Whitney Aircraft in East Hartford, Conn., where he helped design turbines for the first generations of jet engines for civilian aircraft. In the 1960s he worked on the JT9D engine, which powered the Boeing 747.
He married Virginia (Brewster) Coy in 1957. She predeceased him. He leaves their four children: Peter Coy of Demarest, N.J., along with his wife, Ariela Keysar-Coy, and their son, Ethan; Carrie Coy of Hebron, Conn., along with her partner, Ellen Hetherington, and their children, Amy and Annie; Edward Coy of Lancaster, Calif., along with his wife, Karen Coy, and their children, Phoebe and Abigail; and Sarah Craig of Shushan, N.Y., along with her husband, Timothy Craig, and their children, Hamilton and Fiona. In 1995 he married Susan B. (Murphy) Coy, who also predeceased him. He is mourned by her two children: Betsy McCormick, along with her children, Susie and Jillian; and Jack McCormick, along with his wife, Bobbie, and their children, Jared and Rusti Simone. He also leaves numerous beloved nieces and nephews.
He was a lifelong athlete. He played basketball for Westerly High School and went on to compete for Rhode Island State in basketball, track, and sailing. In 2009 he was inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame. He enjoyed skiing before settling on golf and tennis, which he played weekly until his late 80s. He also excelled at woodworking, a skill he learned at Rhode Island School for the Deaf. He was known for his friendly smile, honesty, and attention to detail.
He raised his family in Tolland, Conn., and then in Glastonbury. After retirement from Pratt & Whitney in 1980 he lived in Manchester, Vt., followed by Weekapaug, R.I., and Mystic, Conn. In his final years he lived in the Cottage at Avalon in Mystic, before moving this year to Brookdale Buckingham in Glastonbury. The family thanks the staffs of both facilities for their loving care.
A memorial service will take place at Christ Episcopal Church in Westerly on January 9 at 10 a.m. There are no calling hours. In lieu of flowers, donations in his name may be made to the Weekapaug Foundation for Conservation, the Westerly Land Trust, or the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund.
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