lit a candle 6d agonever heard of Chester, West Virginia before today, just read about his 1933 Ford Coupe in this obituary and couldn't scroll past it. 83 years in one town is its own kind of achievement.
Their story
Broda D. "Dave" McCoy was a lifelong resident of Chester, West Virginia, a retired Weirton Steel worker and a devoted classic car enthusiast who died on October 8, 2026, at the age of 83. He was not a celebrity or a public figure in the conventional sense, but a man…
Broda D. "Dave" McCoy was a lifelong resident of Chester, West Virginia, a retired Weirton Steel worker and a devoted classic car enthusiast who died on October 8, 2026, at the age of 83. He was not a celebrity or a public figure in the conventional sense, but a man well known and loved within his small Ohio Valley community, and his death has been marked by the kind of quiet, heartfelt tributes typical of a long settled life in one place.
He was born on November 4, 1942, in East Liverpool, Ohio, to Hilda McCoy Cameron, and he graduated from Chester High School in 1961. For much of his working life he was employed at Weirton Steel, where according to his obituary he worked as a scarfer, a physically demanding job in the mill that involved burning away surface defects from steel before it moved further down the production line. Those who knew him described him as a hardworking man who took pride in doing a job well, a trait that defined both his career and his later years.
Outside of work, Dave McCoy was known locally as a devoted gearhead. He kept a 1933 Ford Coupe that he regularly took to car cruises, where he could spend time with fellow enthusiasts who shared his passion for vintage automobiles. He also took considerable pride in maintaining the fifteen acres of his home on Rodgers Road in Chester, and he was a longtime member of the Virginia Avenue Church of Christ, where his faith was an important and enduring part of his life.
McCoy's life was also marked by loss. His wife, Pearl, died before him, as did his son, Broda Dave McCoy Jr., who died in January 2024. He is survived by two sons, Daren McCoy of Lenoir City, Tennessee, and Dru McCoy of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, along with four grandchildren and several great-grandchildren who, according to his family, will carry his memory forward.
Dave McCoy died on October 8, 2026, at the Patriot Assisted Living Center in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, following a lengthy battle with dementia. His family and the Arner Funeral Chapel in Chester, which published his obituary, have remembered him as a man who took pride in his accomplishments, cherished his classic cars, and remained deeply connected to the community he called home throughout his life. A visitation is scheduled for October 22, 2026, in Chester, West Virginia.
Biography adapted from News reports and the sources cited on this page; death reported by Legacy | Obituary.
it really is, a lot of us never leave either