Dorla Deane Medford McCoy of Portales passed from this life into a future, more blessed life on August 20, 2017. A private family graveside service will take place soon. A celebration of life service will be held of Dorla’s life on September 9th at 10 am, at First Baptist Church, Portales.

In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully requests a donation be made to the Dorla McCoy Scholarship at ENMU by going to www.enmu.edu/about/enmu-foundation or mail to ENMU Foundation, Station 8, 1500 S Ave K, Portales NM 88130. Alternatively, consider a donation designated to the Portales First Baptist Church Choir, 100 South Avenue C, Portales, NM 88130.

Dorla was born in Brinkley, AR on November 29, 1937 to Jonathan Levi and Florence Clinton Medford. In 1951, the family moved to Salem, OR where she graduated from high school. On August 29, 1957, Dorla married Glenn Wesley McCoy. The couple soon moved to Fort Worth, TX where she worked as a secretary in a major oil company. In 1959, she, her husband, and new baby daughter moved to Ruidoso Downs, NM. Here she settled into the role of a pastor’s wife and also gave birth to a son. After two and one-half years, they moved to Roswell where she continued her role of pastor’s wife. In 1963, the family moved to Las Vegas, NM where her role shifted to being a campus minister’s wife, she began doing secretarial work on a part-time basis, and had a second son.

In 1971, the family of Glenn, Dorla, Ann, Wes, and Stan moved to Portales where Dorla became a full-time employee of Eastern New Mexico University. Her first positions were in the Registrar’s Office and the Office of Extended Learning. A couple of years into her ENMU career, she moved into the College of Education where she became the certification specialist. She spent 25 years in this position and became so proficient in her knowledge of state rules and regulations for what was required to attain a teacher’s license that professors and students alike sought her expertise.

She retired from this position in 1997. During her retirement, she pursued a number of hobbies including overseas travel, geneology, and scrapbooking. She was a faithful member of the First Baptist church choir for many years as long as health permitted. Dorla continued to support her favorite teams, the Dallas Cowboys and the St. Louis Cardinals.

Due to her fight with Parkinson’s, she spent many days and weeks in Roosevelt General Hospital, Heartland Continuing Care, and the Portales BeeHive assisted living. Here she found wonderful people who came to her aid in times of distress. A special thanks also goes to the personnel of all these institutions that helped extend her life. In her last days, Interim Hospice was a special blessing.

Dorla is preceded in death by her parents as well as a sister, Florence Medford Rucker. She is survived by her husband of almost 60 years, Glenn, children Annette (Ed) of Albuquerque; Wesley (Brenda) of Colorado Springs; and Stanley (Analee) of Cedar Crest. Grandchildren include Brittany, Kelsey (Kyle), Levi (Janelle), Madison, Floyd, Shelby, and Angela. Additional survivors include her brother Reggie (Sally) of Woodburn, OR and her sister Jonella (Greg) of Portland, OR. Dorla also had three great-grandsons, a great-granddaughter, nieces, and nephews.