Johnny Dee McCoy was born on April 13, 1933, in Burlington, Wyoming. He learned the life of farming and cowboying until graduating from Greybull High School.
He entered the U.S. Army. His law enforcement career began as a military police officer. He was stationed in Korea during the Korean War assigned to guard duty at a prisoner of war camp; then after the signing of the armistice, he was sent north to patrol along the 38th Parallel.
Shortly after his military service, Johnny married his eternal sweetheart, Betty JoAnn Langdon on June 10, 1955, which was later solemnized in the Salt Lake Temple.
They are the parents of four sons, Johnny Wade, Bradley Brett, Darryl Tracy, and Steven Virgil. Additionally, they were foster parents to 87 children,
He joined the Wyoming Highway Patrol in 1960 and served in Laramie, Lusk and Evanston. Johnny was promoted to sergeant while in Evanston and retired from peace officer service in 1985. Shortly after retiring from the “Patrol,” he worked for several years at the Wyoming Port of Entry.
Johnny was an avid outdoorsman. He loved the mountains; riding horseback with his sons in the Hoback Range hunting for elk and teaching them the skills of tracking and processing game; camping; boating; scuba diving and being a pilot of his own plane. He and Betty enjoyed snowmobiling, water skiing and ATVing.
After Betty passed away in 2013, Johnny bought himself an electric quad-cycle where he peddled everywhere throughout town.
He displayed his amazing shooting talent during his highway patrol years. Johnny was part of a 3-man pistol team that traveled and participated in numerous shooting competitions. He amassed numerous trophies and won several handgun prizes. He taught his sons the art and science of reloading numerous ammunition calibers.
Johnny and Betty tried their hand at business. They were managers for a Honda motorcycle and scooter business, enjoyed an Amway distributorship, owned a Sears store franchise, and owned a screen-printing business, where they worked from a kiosk in the Salt Lake City downtown mall.
He was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, holding many positions of responsibility including branch president and ward bishop. Johnny and Betty served a two-year mission in the New Hampshire United States mission, where they spent most of their time in Maine.
Johnny passed away peacefully in his sleep on Sunday, Dec. 15. He had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer during the summer of 2024 and was told he did not have much time to get his affairs in order. He worked diligently the last months of his life making things easy for his sons before he passed at the age of 91.
Johnny will be interred at the Evanston Cemetery.
He is survived by his four sons, Johnny Wade (Kayleen), Bradley Bret (PJ), Darryl Tracy (Kari), and Steven Virgil (Kim); his older brother, Leslie; and younger brother, Tim Isabell.
Johnny and Betty are also survived by many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Betty, his wife; his parents, Harry and Tina; and a brother, Robert (Bob), preceded him in death.
A memorial graveside service will be held in the spring of 2025.
