West Lebanon, NH – Michael P. McCarthy, son of the late Michael J. and Mary McCarthy, died on October 12, 2026 at the age of 91. Michael was born at home on February 11, 1935, at 265 St. Paul’s Avenue in Jersey City, New Jersey. He was the fourth child born into a Catholic family parented by first generation Irish immigrants hailing from the Mizen peninsula of West Cork (Michael) and Brandon Point of northern Kerry (Mary).
The family moved to a two-bedroom, cold water tenement on Beacon Avenue where Michael was raised with his two brothers and sister. Growing up in Jersey City, Mike and friends with nicknames like Squikes, GooGoo, and Pepper played stick ball and pick-up football games on streets and vacant lots. While he held his own in the street sports scene, he made his parents proud as an altar boy at church, an outstanding scholarship student at prep school, and a tenor in the glee club.
Mike graduated high school from Saint Peter’s Prep, Jersey City, New Jersey where he was a favorite of his Jesuit teachers, earning first honors many a semester and even winning a tri-state contest for his study of classical Greek and Latin language. Intellect and hard work earned him scholarships to attend Fordham University, New York for undergraduate and law school. He won the Senior Prize upon graduating from law school for having the second highest weighted grade point average in his class, which prompted his mother to ask, “Why weren’t you first?”.
Between undergraduate studies and law school, Mike served in the U.S. army for two years as a second lieutenant and tank commander at Fort Knox, Kentucky, completing active duty in 1959 and serving in the Army Corps Reserve as a first lieutenant during law school. He regaled his children with numerous stories of his time in the army, including the story of a sergeant during training who described his “favorite attack, the attack on a fortified position with bayonet and satchel charge” and promised that, after they all saw it, it would be their “favorite attack, too!”. Being less of a soldier and more of a lover, Mike rarely made it through the story without breaking out in laughter at the absurdity.
At the age of 27, Mike attended the wedding of his law school friend, John O’Brien, and met John’s sister, Isabel. Before the reception was over, Mike, mesmerized by Isabel, had asked her to marry him. While she dismissed this initial proposal with laughter, Isabel and Mike were married six months later and remained devoted to each other for over 61 years. Iz and Mike had three children, Michael, Susan and Sheila. They were a loving household with a father who made sure his children knew some simple truths: your best will always be good enough; let the chips fall where they may; who cares what others think; and enjoy laughing at your mistakes. No one laughed harder at his gaffs than himself.
Their family started with homes in Bayside, Queens and Huntington, Long Island while Mike worked as an attorney for firms in New York before seeking a change of pace and a career in antitrust and corporate law with Xerox Corporation. Work with Xerox took the family back and forth between Southern Connecticut and Rochester, New York, but through it all, Mike prioritized getting home for dinner with his family in the charming home that Isabel always made. Iz and Mike, as they became known, made lifelong friends wherever they lived who remained in contact with them both to the end. Get-togethers with friends or family always involved music, laughter, and sometimes their harmonizing old Irish ballads.
Mike retired at 62. He moved with Isabel to Norwich, Vermont, and later to West Lebanon, New Hampshire. He enjoyed almost 30 years of travelling, studying, mentoring, and volunteering. He valued being there for others during challenging times because he had been through his own, leading to his work as a Guardian ad Litem for youth in the Upper Valley. He was an avid reader throughout his life, devouring poetry, historical non-fiction, and novels of every kind. Mike enjoyed numerous courses through Dartmouth’s lifelong education program and usually hit it off with the professors who led them.
Since 1972, Mike had discovered the physical and mental benefits of running. What started as a way to replace bad habits and lose weight soon developed into a devotion to physical fitness that brought him solace from the struggles of daily life. Over the years he added other outdoor activities to his regimen, and soon the kid from Jersey City was cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, kayaking, cycling and hiking his way around the Upper Valley, frequently with a local friend, and occasionally with one of his children or one of the beloved family dogs in tow.
Above all, he spent time with his Isabel, his adoring children and grandchildren, and with an endless parade of dogs, many of whom will greet him in the afterlife. In later years, his jog slowed to a “wog”. Eventually, he walked. Even in the last year of his life, when his walks were relegated to the Quail Hollow neighborhood that he and Isabel called their final home, he delighted in seeing neighbors in his community and their furry companions. Always with a ready and sincere smile!
Michael was predeceased by his beloved wife, Isabel O’Brien McCarthy, his parents, his brothers, John McCarthy and Tom McCarthy, and his sister, Julia Schneider. He is survived by his loving children, Michael (Kristen) McCarthy of Doylestown, Pennsylvania and Quechee, Susan McCarthy of Wilder, and Sheila (David) Loatman of Mechanicville, New York. A loving grandfather (alias “PopPop” or “Grampa”), Mike is also survived by eight grandchildren; Isabel (Ryan Aguirre), Fiona, and William McCarthy, Sheila McCarthy, and Bailey, Evie, Riley and Sophie Loatman. Michael also leaves his many nieces and nephews across the country, as well as his sister-in-law, Susan Pitiger, and brother-in-law, Bob Pitiger. Lastly, Michael leaves his very loved dog, Chloe, who will be heaped with love by his children.
A Celebration of Life will be held in the Upper Valley, location, date and time to be announced. To honor Michael’s caring for others, the family recommends donations to Upper Valley Turning Point.
https://donorbox.org/give-to-the-upper-valley-turning-poin
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