Donor Story
This Love Story Celebrates Good Lives
Newlyweds Harry and Martha Lee McCoy in 1944. In honor of Valentine's Day 2019, the Hampton Roads Community Foundation is delighted to share one of its favorite donor stories. Click here to watch a short 2013 video to see the love the McCoys have for each other and their community:At age 96 Harry McCoy still grins when he thinks about the first time he saw Martha Lee Hoffman. It was 1936 at Blair Middle School in Norfolk where he and Martha Lee were eighth graders.
"I walked into English class, and there was the prettiest girl I had ever seen," he says.
Harry was smitten right away with his new classmate's vivacious personality and brilliant smile. The couple started dating at Maury High School and continued their romance during their college years at Sweet Briar College and the University of Virginia. They married in 1944 while Harry was on leave from the Navy.
The McCoys lived for a few years in Charlottesville while he attended law school and she taught school before returning to their hometown of Norfolk where they raised their three children. Harry practiced law and did community service through the Rotary Club of Norfolk while Martha Lee led the regional Girl Scout Council and volunteered with other organizations.
In 2010 in gratitude for the good life they and their families have led, the McCoys started a permanent donor-advised fund at the Hampton Roads Community Foundation. They add to the fund each year and as members of the Legacy Society for Hampton Roads have planned for a bequest for a future gift. Their goal is for their fund to always help nonprofits in the community they call home.
"This is thanksgiving for the wonderful life we've enjoyed," Martha Lee says of the McCoy Fund.
