Amanda Loyd

Amanda Lee (Loyd) McCoy was born in Nevada, Missouri on April 20, 1978, to Lonnie Stephen Loyd and Lois Eileen (Foster) Loyd. She passed away at Research Hospital on Wednesday, August 10, 2022, with her children and family members by her side.  When Amanda was born, she entered the world with a heart problem that required surgery, but even as a tiny baby (4 lb.), she showed the world that she was a fighter and wouldn’t be held back by anything.  She was a feisty spirit with a powerful sense of humor, and she didn’t have a problem calling things as she saw them.  She was always a quick defender of her family, her friends, those who struggled, and any creature with fur.  She especially loved her dogs and was seldom without one.  Amanda’s signature look was flared jeans, fun t-shirts, pony-tailed hair, a ballcap, and blue eyeshadow to match her pretty eyes.  And in true Amanda fashion, though she dyed bright, bold streaks of color in her blond hair, she really didn’t think anyone else should.  She was a tomboy at heart who had no problem getting dirty, but she liked being a pretty girl, too.  She enjoyed dressing up for a night out, wearing makeup, beautiful clothes, and pretty jewelry.   Amanda was also an athlete, loving basketball especially, and she was an explorer.  She loved vacations, float trips, camping, fishing for catfish and snagging for spoonbill.  She had a passion for anything exciting and new, which meant she was always learning and introducing her children to new places, new ideas, new music, new movies, new people.  She wanted them to have rich, full lives.  She also loved beauty.  She found it in nature, especially on her grandma’s farm.  She liked riding horses, going for walks, having picnics, riding on the four-wheeler, and enjoying the cows, pigs, and chickens.  Nature was Amanda’s friend, and animals were among her favorite companions.  And her love of beauty was evident in her passion for decorating and art.  She enjoyed decorating her home, and she adored decorating for holidays, especially Halloween and Christmas.  She had a sense of style all her own, and her children loved holidays with her.  She could also draw for hours, creating beautiful fantasy sketches for them.  Amanda could be a fiery character, as anyone who ever disagreed with her can attest, but her heart was soft to anyone who didn’t have what they needed, and when her children were in school, she spent much of her time caring for their friends and collecting sports equipment for the children on various teams who didn’t have the bats, balls, uniforms, etc. they needed.  She also coached Hannah and Stephen’s teams, acted as room mother to their classes, and made sure to enrich their lives with fun vacations and travel experiences, amazing birthday parties, and great family activities.  She wanted Hannah and Stephen, to have the best life she could imagine.  It’s hard to sum up a person’s 44 years of life in a few paragraphs, but thankfully we don’t have to do that here.  She will be remembered by so many who loved her.  She touched the lives of her enormous family and large circle of friends and community members.  She was not perfect, but she made up for that by being loving and unique.  Amanda knew who she was, and though her life was not easy in any of its many dimensions, she lived it with passion and conviction.   She was a lover AND a fighter, and she did not go from us easily.  Even her final act, the donation of her organs that she had chosen to do many years ago, was an act of kindness and generosity that is an inspiration to her family and friends.Amanda is survived by her daughter Hannah McCoy “Nana Bug” and son Stephen McCoy “Bubba” of the home (and her beloved dog Fudge); her stepdaughter Brenna (Ryan) Latimer and grandchildren Jameson, Dax, and Neveah of Springfield, her sister Sonita Loyd of Butler, MO; her brother Gregory Loyd (Brooke) of Andover, MA; her nephews David Kegerries of Nevada and Donald (Carolina) Kegerries of Harrisonville.  Amanda came from a large and loving family and is survived by many aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephews.  She was preceded in death her mother and father, brother David Stewart, sister Linda (Stewart) Sandoval, stepfather Don Chastain, stepmother Dorothy Loyd, grandfather Fred Loyd, nephew Dustin Kegerries, and most recently, her Grandma Leva Loyd.

Funeral services will be held Friday, August 19 at 10:00 a.m. at Heuser Funeral Home, Rich Hill with burial at Green Lawn Cemetery at a later date.