James Patrick "Pat" McCarthy

1930 - 2015

McCarthy, James Patrick "Pat"
James Patrick "Pat" McCarthy, Colonel, USAF Retired, aged 84 of Paradise Valley, Arizona flew to the wild blue yonder on May 28, 2015 after a tough battle with cancer. He was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on August 19, 1930 to Emmett McCarthy and Lucille Doonan McCarthy. Pat graduated from Our Lady of Lourdes High School in Marinette, Wisconsin in 1949, earned his Bachelor's degree from Indiana University in 1961 and his Master's degree in 1967 from Wayne State University. Pat was an Aviation Cadet and member of the United States Air Force pilot training class 53F. He flew 157 combat missions in Vietnam where he earned the Distinguished Flying Cross. Pat was a poet laureate; his poem, "Prayer of the Fighter Jock", was read into the Congressional Record in 1968. He served as a below-the-zone Colonel (O-6) in the Legislative Liaison Branch at the Pentagon in Washington, DC. After retiring from the Air Force in 1973 he established the Junior ROTC program at Sunnyslope High School in Phoenix, Arizona. He earned his designation as a Certified Financial Planner and was the principal member of McCarthy & Associates, a very successful estate planning and wealth management firm. He organized numerous charitable family foundations in his philanthropic Golden Footprints program. Pat was a skilled aviator, world traveler and photography fanatic. Ultimately, Pat was a prayerful man of God, student of the Holy Bible and a member of Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Scottsdale, Arizona. He is survived by his wife Helen Burton-McCarthy, daughters Mary and Anne, sons Terrence, Matthew, Michael and Paul, grandchildren Stephanie, Hannah, David, Justin, Rachel and John Paul. Pat was predeceased by his wife Therese Schiller McCarthy and his sister Mary McCarthy Dughi. In lieu of flowers please make a gift of your donation to Hospice of the Valley https://www.hov.org/donate 602-530-6900 or Pat's favorite charity: Tutwiler Clinic, 205 Alma Street, Tutwiler, MS 38963-0462 http://tutwilerclinic.org/help.html, 662-345-8334. Visitation will be held at Hansen Desert Hills Chapel, 6500 E. Bell Rd., Scottsdale, AZ 85254, June 3, 2015 from 5-8PM, with rosary at 7PM. Mass of the Resurrection will be held at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, 11300 N. 64th St., Scottsdale, AZ 85254, June 4, 2015 at 10AM. Interment will follow at Holy Redeemer Cemetery, 23015 N. Cave Creek Rd., Phoenix, AZ 85024. Please visit www.hansenmortuary.com to place online condolences.