Richard F. “Dick” McCarthy, 92, part of the first permanent diaconate class in the Diocese of Camden, who served at St. Simon Stock Parish, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in West Berlin, died Oct. 22.
Born in New York City, he was the eighth of 10 children of Margaret Mary and Albert G. McCarthy.
A veteran of World War II, he met his wife, Dot, while they were both serving in the military. After being married at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, they moved to West Berlin in the early 1950s, and raised six children.
Deacon McCarthy worked for the Camden County Highway Department for 30 years as an Inspector of Roads. He also served as tax collector for West Berlin for 20 years, and he was a strong public advocate for property tax reform.
With his wife, he was a parishioner of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish for more than 50 years, and in 1976, he was ordained a deacon, in the first class of the permanent diaconate for the diocese.
Dedicated to his local church community, he served in multiple roles and was also a committed volunteer to the St. Vincent de Paul Society.
“Deacon McCarthy was an energetic and sincere evangelist,” remembered Deacon Leo McBlain, co-director of the Office of the Diaconate. “His ministry began with the poor and anyone who suffered from injustice. With his sense of Irish humor, he offered hope to those who needed it most.”
Deacon McCarthy was the husband of the late Dorothy E. (Small); father of Michael K. of Philadelphia, Richard F., Jr. of Los Angeles, Patrick T. of Baltimore, Mary Ann Panarelli of Reston, Va., Peggy Farley of Sicklerville, and Kathy McAninch of Culpeper, Va.; grandfather of 15; and great-grandfather of two.
A funeral Mass was celebrated Oct. 27 at St. Simon Stock Parish, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church. Burial followed in Gate of Heaven cemetery.
Deacon McCarthy’s family requests that donations in his memory be sent to the St. Vincent de Paul Society, 157 W. White Horse Pike, Berlin, NJ 08009, or Sacred Heart School, 1739 Ferry Ave., Camden, NJ 08104.