Marilyn Jane Reed McCarthy
Longtime Southold resident Marilyn Jane Reed McCarthy passed away Nov. 16 at Good Shepherd Hospice in Port Jefferson. She was 80.
She was born in Brooklyn Feb. 8, 1935, to Adelaide (Wallace) and William E. Reed. The family later moved into a 1940s English Tudor home in Jamaica Estates. Marilyn attended Immaculate Conception Grammar School and The Mary Louis Academy, graduating with many honors in January 1953.
Marilyn was an employee of the Long Island Press newspaper and also worked for Eastern Airlines, in which capacity she proudly got to have a dance with its owner, Eddie Rickenbacker.
Marilyn married James R. McCarthy Sept. 8, 1956. Their first child, Kathleen, was born Sept. 3, 1957. Son Daniel was born Aug. 12, 1959. The family resided in Lake Ronkonkoma for a few years, then moved back to Marilyn’s mother’s home in Jamaica Estates.
Marilyn worked at P.S. 178 in Hollis, first as a school aide and then had a very rare opportunity of becoming a paraprofessional where she ran the Ben Franklin Associates — a printing class that she helped organize to assist students with publishing. That became something. The class, and Marilyn’s guidelines, earned many New York State awards. She also earned an associate degree from Pace College.
Marilyn, James and son Daniel moved to the North Fork in 1988, taking up residence at Founders Village in Southold, where Marilyn was a welcome addition to the community’s publication, the Founders Village Grapevine. After working briefly at the Riverhead Department of Labor, she was hired by the unemployment office, where worked until 1993.
Marilyn loved reading, movies and theater. She and her husband became members of North Fork Community Theatre in Mattituck to honor their actor son.
Predeceased by her husband, James, on July 28, 1993, Marilyn is survived by her daughter, Kathleen Mooney (Brian) of Albany; her son, Daniel, of Southold; her sister, Barbara, and husband, Raymond McDonald, and their sons, Kevin and Michael, and their families; brother-in-law, Daniel F. McCarthy, and family of Ewing, N.J.; as well as other nieces and nephews and numerous friends.
The family will receive visitors Thursday, Nov. 19, from 2 to 6 p.m. at Coster-Heppner Funeral Home in Cutchogue. The Liturgy of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Friday, Nov. 20, at St. Patrick R. C. Church in Southold. Interment will follow at the church cemetery.
Memorial donations to Good Shepherd Hospice, 200 Belle Terre Road, Port Jefferson, NY 11776; Southold Free Library, P.O. Box 697, Southold, NY 11971; or Southold Historical Society, P.O. Box 1, Southold, NY 11971, would be appreciated.
This is a paid notice.
