Christine N. McCoy

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Christine Naomi Rhea was born on October 14, 1934, to the union of Howard Anderson Rhea and Ella Mae Massengill in Knoxville TN. In 1936 the family moved to Detroit, Michigan for the prospect of better job opportunities. Her parents believed that the move would also provide their daughter with a better education.  Christine attended Detroit Public Schools and graduated from East Commerce High School. Her curriculum was business, with an emphasis on shorthand and typing.

In February 1953 Christine married Richard Allen Foster. To this union were born their daughters Toni Denice and Leah Diane. Her husband died in October 1970, making her a widow at 36 with two children to raise to adulthood, and that’s what she did.

Christine was a progressive woman (especially for her era). Whereas she loved her kids dearly, she never wanted to limit herself to traditional housewife duties and found a considerable amount of joy in working and learning outside of the home. She also felt that by doing so, she would set a good example and foundation for her girls. Christine was not one who desired spending hours in the kitchen perfecting a meal, but she mastered her apple cake and sweet potato casserole recipes (which were frequently requested from every generation until her death). Instead of staying at home, Christine made an intentional choice to apply the valuable typing skills that she learned during her earlier education. Christine worked at the federal government and other private businesses, and she was especially happy when she received an offer from Ford Motor Company which introduced her to computers and allowed her to advance to data input. She retired from Ford Motor Company at 62 years of age.

Christine was incredibly smart, so it should not come as much surprise that her favorite hobbies were those that advanced her knowledge. She was an avid book reader, and her home held a library filled with encyclopedias and books. She loved religious studies and would often engage in conversations about history and world events with her daughters. Outside of learning, Christine loved anything that allowed her to connect and talk to people. In her earlier years that came in the form of participating in a bowling league, building relationships with her co-workers, and traveling, and in her later years that connection was gained through Sunday trips to Aldi with her daughter Leah, participating in the neighborhood block club, chatting on the phone with her family, and people watching on the front porch. Christine was extremely meticulous and loved beauty, and those traits nicely complemented her love of gardening and “do-it-yourself” projects where the finished product was always perfect and unique.

Christine Naomi McCoy was the matriarch of her family and loved by her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Christine departed this life on Thursday, February 24, 2022.  She leaves to cherish her memory: her two children, Toni Lee (Arnett – deceased) and Leah Vest (Carl); three grandchildren, Kyle Foster Sr. (Shanelle), Michelle Hall (Michael), and Erica Vest-Wilcox (Harold); three great-children, Shayna Allen, Kyle Foster Jr., and Kailen Foster, and a wealth of other family and friends