William Joseph McCarthy

1941 - 2025

William Joseph McCarthy

April 8, 1941 - June 17, 2025

Sacramento, California - William "Bill" Joseph McCarthy, 84, passed peacefully on June 17, 2025, with family by his side. Bill passed from a short bout with pneumonia.

Bill is survived by his three children - Elizabeth (Brian), Patrick (Meg), and Robert (Allison); six grandchildren - Kathryn, Joseph, Jack, Claire, James, and Aimee; and many nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by his wife Virginia "Ginny" Burke McCarthy, his parents Bartholomew and Columbina, brothers Bartholomew and James and sisters Margaret "Peggy" and Francis.

Born in San Francisco, California on April 8, 1941, Bill was the fourth of five children of Bartholomew and Columbina McCarthy. Bart and Columbina were both born in San Francisco and lived in the City until 1956 when they migrated their family across the Golden Gate Bridge to Marin County.

Bill attended St Brendan Parish School and graduated from St Ignatius College Preparatory in San Francisco in 1959. Throughout elementary school and high school Bill developed lifelong friendships. Many of those friendships continued and strengthened at the University of Santa Clara. Bill graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Santa Clara and stayed enrolled to begin his masters degree.

While attending Santa Clara, Bill started dating his future wife Ginny who was attending Dominican College. They married in May of 1963 and had their first child, Elizabeth, in September of 1964. Months later, with twins, Patrick and Robert, on the way, Bill and Ginny moved to Stockton in June of 1965. And Bill started working as a junior Civil Engineer/Estimator for Nomellini Construction. In early 1967, Bill began working for Continental-Heller Corp in Sacramento. He started as a Field Engineer and ultimately became Chief Engineer at this perennial Top 400 Construction Company. This is when the family moved north to Sacramento where they would stay and raise their family.

In August of 1968, Bill became a Registered Civil Engineer in the State of California. Bill was very proud of being a licenced CE and maintained his licence until death, 57 years in total.

In January 1976, Bill along with two C-H coworkers founded SMF Corporation which became a Top 400 company completing projects throughout Northern CA, Nevada and Colorado. And in March of 1985, Bill became the founder and sole owner of McCarthy Construction. Many of Bill's former employees have gone on to form construction companies of their own and Bill was forever a mentor and advisor to each of these individuals.

Throughout his professional career, Bill serviced the construction industry by serving on the City of Sacramento Construction Codes Advisory and Appeals Board, the Sacramento County Board of Appeals. In retirement, Bill was active in the Campus Commons community, working on Village One and Park Corp projects.

Bill will be remembered for his lifelong friendships, his one-liners, his love of fishing and cooking, his dedication to his family and friends and his love for Guinness and all things Irish!

A Funeral Mass will be held at Sacred Heart of Jesus, 1040 39th Street, Sacramento on Friday, August 8, 2025 at 11 a.m. Reception to follow.