WILLIAM MCCARTHY

WILLIAM MCCARTHY
July 31, 1933 - January 16, 2025
Bill McCarthy, 91, passed away in Denver, Colorado. Bill was born in Minneapolis, MN to Grace and Charles McCarthy. He attended Blake School then graduated from Canterbury School in Connecticut.
Bill spent two happy years at Stanford University before returning to Minneapolis to graduate from the University of Minnesota. There he met the love of his life, Marnie Cashel. They married a month after Marnie graduated, and their first child arrived nine months later.
Bill joined General Mills, and soon he and Marnie had four kids. Even with a fulfilling career working in "the pit" at the Minneapolis Grain Exchange, Bill found time to get all his kids into ice skating, hockey, and cross-country and downhill skiing. He was among a handful of avid skiers who founded Buck Hill ski area, a Minnesota favorite and home for many past and current Olympic ski racers. Bill also loved Halloween, and was well known - and feared - as the Warlock of Webber Hills, and he instilled an enduring desire in his kids and eventually his grandkids to use the holiday to frighten children witless.
When Marnie's ceramics hobby became a serious pursuit, she and Bill bought Minnesota Clay Company. After a couple of years of building Minnesota Clay, they picked up the family and moved to Santa Fe in 1974, where Bill started Santa Fe Clay Company. In addition to selling potters' supplies to ceramists and art departments all over the southwest, Bill organized workshops at the warehouse in the old railyard and attracted internationally known ceramists to teach their techniques. He was also active on the board of the Santa Fe Preparatory School while his kids were there and devoted much of his time to supporting their sports activities and other interests.
Bill and Marnie split their retirement years between Santa Fe and the family cottage on Lake L'Homme Dieu in Alexandria, MN in summer. They enjoyed visits there from their kids and grandkids, who knew him as "Grampa Catfish." Bill was a history buff, golfer, and a lifelong birder. In the winter, he skied at least a couple of times a week until he was 83. One of the happiest days of Bill's life was when he reached 75 and he got to ski for free at the Santa Fe Ski Basin.
Bill's true love Marnie died May 28, 2020, and he moved to Denver, CO, to live with his daughters before moving to a memory care home there. He is survived by his son Dan McCarthy, of Santa Fe; and daughters Sarah Madrid, with husband Peter Adams, of Denver, CO; Molly McCarthy Lacy, with husband Henry Lacy, of Pollensa, Mallorca; and Laura McCarthy of Denver, CO, as well as 7 grandchildren and four great grandchildren.
A memorial gathering will be held in Santa Fe in December 2025.