Obituary of Mary L. (Leonard) McCarthy

Mary L. (Leonard) McCarthy, 95, of Peabody, died early Friday at the Rosewood Nursing Home in Peabody after a long illness. She was the wife of the late Peabody Letter Carrier Charles J. McCarthy. She was born in Salem, MA on September 1, 1914, the daughter of the late Peter and Bridget Ellen (Lyons) Leonard and was raised there graduating from Salem High School and later from the Hawthorne Institute in Salem. Mary had resided in Peabody for the past 71 years. She had been a bookkeeper at the Aulson Tanning Corp, Peabody and later at the Hotel Hawthorne in Salem. She then became the office manager for the former Jefferson Industrial Supply Corp of Peabody for over twenty years prior to her retirement. Mary was a member of St. John’s Church and also the Ladies Sodality there for many years. She was also a member of the St. William Guild of St. John’s Preparatory School, Danvers. She was a gold star mother when her son, Staff Sgt. John E. McCarthy of the Green Berets was killed in action in the Vietnam War on February 20, 1967. She is survived by three sons and daughters-in-law, Former State Representative Peter C McCarthy and his wife Mary Anne of Peabody, Dr. James and Andrea McCarthy of Osterville and Robert and Jean McCarthy of Plum Island, MA, a daughter and son-in-law, Anne and John McClellan of Venice, Florida, her cherished grandchildren, Sean and Daniel McCarthy, Katherine Martin, Robert McCarthy, Mara Sullivan, Jana McCarthy, Erin Baumhardt and Patrick McCarthy, her 5 great grandchildren, Zooey McCarthy, Kayla Sullivan, Maeve and Effie Martin and Lucas McCarthy and many nieces and nephews. She was the Mother of the late Staff Sgt John E. McCarthy and the sister of the late Henry , Arthur, Edward Leonard and Helen Burke. A Visitation will be held on Monday from 4:00 until 8:00 PM at the Conway, Cahill-Brodeur Funeral Home at the 82 Lynn St., Peabody facility. Her funeral will be held on Tuesday from the Funeral home at 10:30 AM followed by a Funeral Mass in St. John’s Church, 16 Church St., Peabody at 11:30 AM. Burial will be in St. Mary’s Cemetery, Salem. Expressions of sympathy may be made to the Staff Sgt. John McCarthy Green Beret Scholarship Fund, c/o Eastern Bank Branch, Foster St., Peabody, MA 01960 or to the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur Retirement Fund, 30 Jeffrey's Neck Rd., Ipswich, MA 01930 in her memory.