Stacy B. McCoy, McCoy Auction, Arapahoe, was inducted posthumously into the Nebraska Auctioneers Association Hall of Fame at the association’s annual awards banquet held at the 66th convention in Norfolk, Nebraska, at Divots Conference Center on May 31, 2014.
Nearly 40 of Stacy’s family attended the event and his daughters, Lelia Haussler and Lucetta Andrews, accepted the award on his behalf.
Stacy always wanted to be an auctioneer but was discouraged to do so by his father, so he would go out behind the barn and practice selling cows and fence posts. He had the opportunity to work with Col. Sutton of Hendley and Mr. Bobbitt. Later with George Irelan, Earnest Hosea, Abe Parrish, Ted Teeter and possibly others.
After moving to Arapahoe in 1939 he established McCoy Auction and later added the Realtor business while continuing in farming and cattle feeding. During World War II Stacy auctioned at the Cambridge, Oxford, Elwood and Beaver City sale barns along with his scheduled dates for sales for people leaving for the war time employment. Every single weekday was filled from early October until March 1st. He refused to schedule a sale on Sunday.
Ray Martin joined the business in 1945 after attending Rupert Auction School. Later Stacy assisted several young men upon their return from Auction School. Those helping under the supervision of Stacy were his son, “Jake,” Stan Sexton, Dennis Messersmith, Doyle Dawson and Doug McCann.
Stacy involved his family in various aspects of the business. You might say it was a “family affair” as all the children clerked and settled sales, typed contracts, distributed sale bills and listened to the early morning “Line Ring” given on the local telephone party line to the area. It always started out, “Hello everyone, don’t forget the farm auction,” then followed by the date and time.
During an open house for 50 years in business, Stacy estimated that he had conducted over 7000 auctions. He really did not ever retire as he was auctioning a thermos of coffee as they wheeled him to the operating room for open heart surgery in the summer of 1978. Stacy did not survive the surgery. His son, James D “Jake” McCoy continued the McCoy Auction and Realtor business after his father’s death.
Stacy was President of the Nebraska Auctioneers Association in 1969 and a delegate to the National Auctioneers Convention. He worked 60+ years for his community and was named “Mr. Arapahoe” for heading the fund drive for the C. A. Mues Rest Home. He was given the AK-SAR-BEN Good Neighbor Award. He headed a fund drive for the Arapahoe Medical Clinic, donated the first $1,000 toward lights at the baseball field, and secured the FHA loan to purchase land to establish the Arapahoe Golf Course.
Stacy was elected to the Arapahoe City Council, served as president of the school board for the Arapahoe School District #18, and was awarded an Honorary Diploma from Arapahoe High School. He donated his time when he auctioned the boxes at the box suppers in rural schools, cakes for the Boy Scouts and many other organizations. McCoy Auction also donated their time and assisted in the Holbrook Lions Club Consignment Auction that is still successful today.
Stacy was a member of the Rotary Club, Arapahoe Chamber of Commerce, South Platte United Chamber of Commerce, and Isaac Walton. He was a member of the Arapahoe Methodist Church and later of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church.
Stacy moved and remodeled over 50 houses in Arapahoe. Veterans that returned from World War II that could not qualify for loans made monthly payments to him. He later commented, “Not one veteran ever missed a payment.” He built McCoy Hotel-Motel, and platted and developed McCoy Addition to Arapahoe.