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Thomas Harkins Loy was born in Elkhart county, Indiana, February 23, 1869. His parents were Henry Loy and Barbara Harkins. He moved from Indiana to Aurora, MO, joining two of his bothers, Daniel B. and Samuel E. Loy, in 1895 where he was a resident of Lawrence County until his death on May 5, 1961 at the age of 92. Gen. Loy was the first commander of the 203rd CA (AA) prior to World War II. He was a veteran of the Mexican Border War and World War I, in which he served in France as the commanding officer of the 129th Machine Gun battalion, 35th Division. He first became connected with the military service when the old Company M of the Missouri National Guard was organized in Lawrence County, MO in 1905. From then on he was a member of some organization until he retired at age 65 in 1933. He soon became an officer and was a major when his Guard unit was in federal service on the Mexican Border in 1916 and 1917. He was in federal service again from August of 1917 until March of 1919 as commanding officer of the 129th, serving in France. He was cited for gallantry in action at Cheppy by General Pershing and received two divisional citations for his service during the Argonne battle. Immediately after the end of the war, he was one of those who attended the meeting in Paris at which the American Legion was organized and later became a member of the Society of American Legion Founders. He was one of the founders of the A.B.C. post of the American Legion in Lawrence County, MO. Following World War I, he helped reorganize the National Guard, and was the commanding colonel of the 203rd coast artillery (anti-aircraft) CA(AA) from the time of its formation until his retirement in 1933. On the eve of his retirement he was promoted to brigadier general, the rank he held when he reviewed a regimental parade in his honor in Aurora, MO. When General Loy first moved to Aurora, he was superintendent of the waterworks and later fire chief. The first telephone in Aurora connected his office with the pumping station at Verona, and was used to ask for higher pressure during fires. As a young man he was regarded as one of the finest bicycle riders in the district and he and Jim Dustman were champions of the town and won many medals. He specialized in sprints and short distances while Dustman was the distance leader. They built and maintained a quarter mile track in Aurora for use in matches that drew large crowds. Once, just to see if they could do it, Loy and Dustman rode 600 miles in just nine days, and were held up two days by bad weather and muddy roads. The two made the run in the Oklahoma land rush when the former Indian territory was opened to homesteaders but did not stay long enough to get farms. In 1910, Gen. Loy moved his family to a farm on Honey Creek, north of Aurora, which he operated for many years with his father-in-law, William James Thomas. Later the Loy family moved back to Aurora and made their home at 304 Elliott Avenue. He was, for several years, secretary of the Aurora Chamber of Commerce and later was employed by the State Highway Department and the the Empire District Electric company in right of way acquisition work. He was a Mason and a Knight Templar. General Loy and his wife, Effie Thomas Loy were married in Aurora, December 11, 1895. They had 5 children; Carl Thomas, Mildred, Kenneth Henry, Genevieve Lucille and Tom Harold. Mrs. Loy died October 8, 1942. They are buried in the family plot in Maple Park Cemetery, Aurora, Missouri. Information from: Family members, Aurora Advertiser and Kansas City Star. |