A thousand mourn Benton assistant principal at memorial service

Community coming together to celebrate the life of benton's beloved assistant principal...good evening, i'm alan van zandt.a lifelong educator, friend and southside ally was laid to rest today.kq2's kilee thomas with the story.

Kilee thomasthursday morning- a sea of red and sprinkles of blue showing up to honor a pillar of the southside sot:azure hailey, mccoy's assistant- "at this point in time, he is the heartbeat of benton high school."

Not a single seat open at grace evangelical church nearly a thousand friends, family, fellow teachers and students attending the memorial service of dr. luke mccoy longtime assistant principal who passed away last friday.

Sot: hailey-"i don't know anybody who cares more about those kids, i don't know anybody who cares more about that staff.

It's him.

It was luke."

Sot: eli mclaughlin, mccoy cousin-"there's a reason each of us are here today, there's a reason that many of us took off work today and there's a reason an entire high school is closed today."

Luke's cousin speaking for the family inseparable brotherly bond sharing stories that made you laughsot: mclaughlin- "our bond began in the diaper years and by all accounts, we planned to leave this world in the same fashion drooling, mumbling incoherent phrases to one another."

álaughterá and stories that made you cry.

Sot: mclaughlin- "friday not only changed those plans, but it has forever altered the lives of his parents, his sister, his wife rachel, his colleagues, students, but also elliot, noah and ben."

A community reflecting on how luke mccoy touched their life better sot: hailey-"actually my very first part-time gig with the school district met with luke because i was going to be the crossing guard lady."

Those who love luke coming out in masses to mourn...to celebrate his legacy showing his impact on those who will forever remember him.

áfireworksáreporting in st.

Joseph kilee thomas kq2 news mccoy died last friday... he was 46-years old, and he leaves behind a wife and three sons.

A site is available to collect money for his childrens' education fund.

You can find it on our website --