ROCKPORT: John F. McCarthy, 65, died Monday evening, March 29, 2010, surrounded by his loving family at his residence following a brief illness. He was the husband of Patricia E. (Hilshey) McCarthy.
Born in Cambridge on August 11, 1944, he was the son of the late Francis P. and Rosalie J. (Barbanti) McCarthy. He was a graduate of the Arlington High School and the Franklin Institute.
John had been employed for eighteen years as a heat-treater for the former Walbar Metals. He then became the maintenance director for the Ipswich Country Club, where he remained for many years. For the past two years, he proudly worked in his son John’s business, the Reading Athletic Club. He had also once served as a police officer for the Medford Park Police.
In his spare time, he enjoyed walking the boulevard and spending time with family and friends. He was an avid fisherman, who, along with his daughter Julie, shared every possible Sunday in the summer on the boat. He also took pleasure in working in his yard.
A loving and devoted husband, father, grandfather and friend, he will be missed greatly.
In addition to his wife of forty-five years, he is survived by his son and daughter-in-law, John F., Jr. and Hilda McCarthy of Miami, FL, two daughters, Julie McCarthy and Michelle McCarthy both of Gloucester, grandson, Matthew J. McCarthy; his special aunt, Gerry Strople, two brothers-in-law, Harold O. “Budd” Hilshey, Jr. and William, husband of Dorothy Hilshey, a niece and many nephews. Among many dear friends, he leaves a special family friend, Ann Walima of Rockport.
A funeral prayer service will be celebrated on Saturday morning in the St. Joachim’s Church, Holy Family Parish, Broadway, Rockport at 10 a.m. Visiting hours will be held on Friday evening in the Pike-Grondin Funeral Home, 61 Middle Street, Gloucester from 5 – 7 p.m. Relatives and friends are cordially invited to attend. In lieu of flowers, expressions of sympathy may be made in his memory to Michelle McCarthy, c/o Patricia E. McCarthy, P.O. Box 2345, Rockport, MA 01966. Interment will be held in the Calvary Cemetery.