Helping people through life's beginning and end is all in a day's work for Lana and Chris McCoy.
Lana is a registered nurse at St. Francis Medical Center in the Special Beginnings program. She works with pregnant mothers and helps them make birth plans.
Chris is a funeral director at Livingston-Sondermann Funeral Home. He guides families through the steps necessary to say goodbye to a loved one.
"Lana is a type A personality, and Chris is very laid back, so as a couple, they complement each other very well," said Jan Spale, director of maternal child services at St. Francis.
Lana has been an obstetrics nurse since 1977. She started at St. Francis in 1989, and after working "on the floor" for several years, she turned to Special Beginnings. In 1996, she became a certified doula, and she has also been trained in hypnobirth. She attends workshops and meetings on birth topics and reads every book on the subject she can get her hands on.
"It's just because I'm interested," she said. "I got more into teaching in the last 10 years."
She enjoys meeting with expectant mothers and helping them register at the hospital, construct a birth plan and get into the classes.
"It's fun to talk to them," she said. "That's still exciting to me."
Chris got his funeral director's license in 1993. He considers the work his second career. He was a custom meat cutter, but when the farm economy slowed in the mid- to late 1980s, his business slowed as well. So he took a part-time job working at a friend's funeral home in Jefferson, Iowa.
Chris grew up in Jefferson, and Lana is from Chappell. They joke about their childhoods in towns along Highway 30.
"We grew up on the same street, just miles apart," Chris said.
The couple was introduced by mutual friends when Chris was attending mortuary school in Kansas City, Kan. He came to Grand Island for a visit, and Lana said their friends set them up on a date. The foursome went to dinner and a movie.
Lana said she had an out if the date didn't go well -- if she didn't want to see Chris again the next day, he could help the other couple paint their barn. The McCoys laugh at the memory.
"But it went OK," Lana said.
They married in 1995. When asked how long they'd been together, Lana turned to Chris to confer.
"He remembers dates and names. I remember scents and feelings," she said with a laugh.
Chris moved to Grand Island for his apprenticeship and took the job at Livingston-Sondermann.
"I kept saying, ’Don't come here because of me,'" Lana said.
They got engaged in the parking lot of a discount store in Lincoln.
"I was tired of her introducing me as her friend," Chris said.
"Yeah, well, boyfriend when you're older …" she said, smiling. "I said, ’What should I call you?' He opened the glove box and said, ’How about fiancé?'"
In their spare time, the McCoys enjoy working on their home and spending time with their dog, Bear. They've had three previous dogs, all of whom have graves in the backyard complete with markers.
They also like to spend time with Lana's two grown sons, Nicholas and Anthony, who are Nebraska State Patrol troopers in Lincoln, and their three grandchildren.
Family friend Pam Lindsay said Chris and Lana are great parents, and Chris is "probably one of the best stepdads anyone could want. He sees Lana's boys as his own and is always there to help."
The couple is also active in the Serra Club at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, a group that promotes and fosters to ministerial priesthood, and have "adopted" a Colombian seminarian studying in Missouri.
Jerry Quandt, who has worked with Chris for 15 years, said Chris is very conscientious and dedicated to the families he serves.
"I just can't say enough nice things about him," Quandt said. "Chris has a wonderful personality. He has the right mix of seriousness and humor. Sometimes you need that with the families because the tension can get so high."
Chris is meticulous, very particular and has a knack for embalming and cosmetology, Quandt said.
"He likes to have things done the right way for the families," Quandt said. "He does everything he can to make sure that they're pleased."
Spale, who has worked with Lana for 19 years, described Lana's passion for her work in much the same way.
She said Lana is an excellent, patient advocate who seeks out the latest information to help clients and co-workers. She seeks out workshops to help nurses learn how to deal with the difficult sides of child birth, such as when a baby dies or a woman has a miscarriage.
"She does a great job of teaching. She's awesome," Spale said. "She reads a lot and retains it. She's a walking encyclopedia."
Spale also commends Lana for the work she does with patients of various backgrounds, ethnicities and ages.
"She really connects well," Spale said. "She empowers women."
Though their jobs seem different as night and day, Chris and Lana say that's not always the case. Birth and death are both pivotal, often spiritual, events.
"The birth of a child is something you'll always remember, and the death of a loved one is the same," Chris said.
Both help families make decisions concerning the events and share information on their options.
"Our paths don't cross very often," Lana said.
"Thank goodness," Chris said.
Lana said one similarity in their jobs is that birth or death happens around the clock.
"Back when I used to work shifts, we would take two cars to events because we were both often on call. I don't take call anymore, but we still have to have backup plans every once in a while," she said. "People would hate to call us, and I would say, ’Oh, our phone rings around the clock. We're used to it!'"
Lindsay said that openness and compassion add to the McCoys' uniqueness.
"They're both such compassionate people," she said. "They're both so talented."
She said they are also willing to lend a helping hand when necessary. They came out to her home in northwest Grand Island when floodwaters were threatening her property. They bagged sand, and then Lana insisted that Lindsay's family come over for dinner.
"I like quotes, and John D. Rockefeller said, ’Think of giving not as a duty but as a privilege,' and that's Chris and Lana," Lindsay said. "They give of themselves and help because they want to.”source
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