Obituary of Janice M. "Janny" (St. Pierre) McCarthy

Janice “Janny” (St. Pierre) McCarthy, 48 of Peabody passed away peacefully at Mass General Hospital on Wednesday, March 21, 2012 surrounded by her loving family. Janice was born in Salem on July 21, 1963, raised in Peabody graduating from Bishop Fenwick High School class of 1981. She pursued her education at Assumption College receiving her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business Administration in 1985. Janice worked for the Peabody School Department for many years and most recently as a paraprofessional and substitute teacher at the Center School Kindergarten. She also worked as a legal advocate for H.A.W.C. and during the summer and fall months at the Meadow of Peabody golf course. Janice enjoyed her two book clubs and enjoyed boating in and around Salem Willows. Janice had a zest for life and her greatest joy was entertaining and being with her family and many wonderful friends. She was blessed to have been married to her loving and devoted husband, Brian for 23 years. She leaves behind her 3 beloved sons, Erik, Matthew and Andrew whom she will always be watching over. She was the cherished daughter of Margery (Duffy) St. Pierre and loving sister of Susan St. Pierre and her companion Richard Thibodeau, Linda St. Pierre both of Salem, Larry St. Pierre and his wife Dawn of Peabody, and David St. Pierre and his wife Christa of Seattle; her in-laws, John “Jack” and Virginia “Midge” McCarthy of Peabody; 2 brothers-in-law, Richard Lindgren of Peabody and Stuart Phillips of Somerville. She also leaves several nieces and nephews whom she dearly loved. She was predeceased by her father Lawrence, her grandmother Selma “Nummie” Duffy, her sister Sharon St. Pierre, her brother William “Billy” St. Pierre all of whose memories she cherished. Her funeral will be held on Monday, March 26, 2012 at 10 a.m. from the Conway, Cahill-Brodeur Funeral Home, 82 Lynn St., Peabody followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 11 a.m. at St. John the Baptist Church, 16 Church St., Peabody. Janice’s family will receive relatives and friends on Sunday, March 25, 2012 from 3 to 7 p.m. at the funeral home. The family requested that in lieu of flowers donations be made in Janice’s memory to the Kaplan Family Hospice House, 78 Liberty St., Danvers, MA 01923. A committal of ashes will be held at a later time. Please visit www.ccbfuneral.com for directions, online obituary and memorial guest book. Linda & Susan’s eulogy for their younger sister Janice delivered at St. John the Baptist Church on Monday, March 26, 2012 For those of you who don’t know me, I am Linda, one of Janice’s older sisters. On behalf of the McCarthy and St. Pierre families, I’d like to extend our gratitude and appreciation for the tremendous outpouring of support given to Janice’s family over the past week. That we are gathered here this morning to hear this eulogy seems wrong. To have to say goodbye to Janice when she had so much more life ahead of her is tragic and unfair. Our thoughts are of her life and all that she has lost, and of her husband, Brian, and their sons, Erik, Matthew and Andrew and the pain of their loss – as well as that of our mother, Margie and the rest of Janice’s family and friends. The loss is profound. However, we must think of all that she created through her love, determination and sincerity. She built her life one deliberate step at a time without wavering. From the time she was a little girl, Janice knew what she wanted and she worked hard to make it happen-she was relentless in the pursuit of her goals. Before she was married, she had many suitors, lots of guys wanted to be with her. She was beautiful, smart, feisty and fun. But it was Brian that she chose because she wanted to be married to a good man who would love her, be her best friend, be a good father and who would embrace her large family. Her marriage grew stronger and richer every day and set the standard for me, anyway, for a successful marriage. She had a plan and it was with Brian that she would carry it out. With Brian, she turned a small, tired old ranch into a beautiful home large enough for their three sons and for my mother. They worked hard to build their home and family. Janice made and stuck to a strict budget that if adopted by others across the country would probably improve our economy. Janice’s love for and commitment to her children was boundless and it was fierce. She was actively involved in their education and tracked every book, project, quiz and test they were responsible for and their grades. She was unselfish in her love for them and did everything she could to help them succeed in school, to expand their interests, to discover and build on their unique strengths & talents and to foster empathy and kindness for others. She worried about them just like any mother does, but she was immensely pleased with and proud of each of them. Janice cared about others. She was generous and opened her heart and home to family and friends. The month after her oldest son, Erik, was born when she and Brian had very little money to spare, she bought the fixings for a Thanksgiving dinner and delivered them to a local charity. She continued that tradition with her sons every year since. Through example, she taught them the importance of selflessness and the pleasure that comes by helping others through small sacrifices. Janice cared deeply about her nieces and nephews, brothers and sisters, on both sides of her family and they were an integral part of her daily life. She took comfort and pride in the close relationship of our nieces and nephews – the cousins. Janice held a special place in her heart and home for our niece Rachel, who lost her mom, our sister, when she was the same age as Andrew is now. Rachel now dropped into visit every Friday night after work and several times throughout the week. And yet Janice’s other nieces and nephews never felt less loved by or special to her for this. Instead, they and we knew it was right and we were grateful to her for it. She was the key planner of our annual Thanksgiving dinners and frequent family barbecues. She was the ultimate organizer and the first to offer her home up for events. She loved her high school students and her work with them at the Peabody Vocational School and her work with kindergarten students at the Center School. She knew that her work with them was important and she was proud of their accomplishments. She was the sixth of seven children but there was never any fear of her being lost in the crowd. As my mother says “She was a dynamo in a small package who would not be ignored.” Janice was authentic. If she were upset, she would let you know. She was sincere and didn’t try to be something she wasn’t. She was her father’s pet and her mother’s darling little girl. When she was a child she loved to do cartwheels and anything else to make her sisters and brothers laugh. Our memories of Janice will include a favorite image, which captured her pure delight in unwrapping a bunch of bananas, which she got for Christmas when she was a little girl. Leaving us was not part of her plan. However, in the time she has been with us she has never wavered from that plan and all of us have been touched and impacted by her life as a result. Commitment to family, devotion, loyalty, generosity, authenticity and caring for others: This is her legacy to us. These are her gifts to us. It is not easy saying goodbye to Janice, but we must try to remember how she touched us and what we gained by knowing her.