St. Patrick’s royalty includes two longtime
Prairie du Chien couples The annual St. Patrick’s Day celebration in Prairie du Chien is Saturday, March 11. Sponsored by the chamber of commerce, a parade will kick off the morning at 10 a.m., and food and drink specials, as well as live music, at establishments community wide will be available throughout the day.
This year’s St. Patrick’s Day royalty includes Mike and Dawn McCoy, who will serve as the parade king and queen; and Ted and Janet Finn, grand marshals of the celebration.
Mike and Dawn McCoy have been married for 32 years this spring, and they have spent that entire time in Prairie du Chien. Mike recently retired from teaching after 34 years, and currently is an instructor at the Prairie du Chien outreach site for Southwest Wisconsin Technical College. Dawn continues to teach as a speech and language clinician and is in her 34th year.
The McCoys have three children: Tom, Kyle and Caitlin. All the McCoy children were educated in Prairie du Chien public schools and all three are (or soon will be) UW-Madison graduates (with Caitlin’s graduation in May 2017).
“Prairie is the perfect place to raise a family. It’s a safe community that is surrounded by the beauty of the river and bluffs,” they said. “Yet, for a small town, it has so much to offer, like the St. Patrick’s Day parade and festivities Let the Shenanigans begin!”
Ted Finn’s Irish heritage begins in Ireland with the birth of his great-great-grandfather, John Finn. John was born in 1776, in Wicklow County, Ireland. He immigrated, in 1821, to Ontario, Canada, John’s son, Dennis, was born in 1823, and Dennis’ son, John, was born in 1848, in Ontario. He immigrated to the state of Michigan in 1860, and died in 1916. George Finn, Ted’s father, was the son of John Finn and born in 1913, in Michigan. Ted is the fifth generation of this Finn clan in the United States.
Ted and Janet Finn moved to Prairie du Chien in 1969, when Ted was transferred to the local 3M plant. Both were born and raised in Bay City, Mich. They are high school sweethearts, having met in English class their sophomore year. They graduated in 1960, after which they both went to college at different universities.
Ted graduated in 1965 from Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Mich., with a chemical engineering degree. In June that year, the couple was married and Ted took a job with 3M in Prairie du Chien. Janet returned to college at UW-Platteville and received her master’s degree in education in 1986. She taught middle school and high school science in the Wauzeka-Steuben School District until 1999. Ted retired in 2001 after 35 years with 3M.
They have three daughters, Vickie, Alice and Susan, all of whom were raised in Prairie du Chien. They are all happily married and have given them eight grandchildren ranging in age from 2 to 22.
Since retirement, they have enjoyed visiting their family, volunteering in various capacities, sharing astronomy with visitors at Wyalusing State Park, golfing and traveling both in the United States and abroad.
