Thomas Michael (Tom) McCarthy was born Jan. 26, 1947, in Chicago, Illinois, and died peacefully at his home on Monday, June 15, 2015.
Mr. McCarthy was raised in Cicero, Illinois, and joined the United States Navy serving from 1965-69, including three years in Vietnam for which he was awarded the Purple Heart.
Tom began his career in law enforcement with the Dade County Sheriff’s Department in Miami, Florida. Returning to his home state in 1978, he worked with the Village of Hodgkins Police Department for two years before moving to Alabama where he had lived for the past 35 years. He worked with the Florence and Tuscumbia Police departments, Colbert County Sheriff’s Department and the Alabama Forestry Department. To many he was known as Officer Friendly in the Florence City Schools in the early 1980s. He served as the Director of the Florence Crime Prevention and Neighborhood Watch programs for the city of Florence and helped establish the McGruff the Crime Dog program for our area. He was a member of Woodmont Baptist Church.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Daniel and Violet McCarthy, and brother, Dan McCarthy.
He is survived by his wife of 41 years, Kathy McKinney McCarthy; son, Kevin (Amy) McCarthy, of Troy, Missouri; daughter, Ginger (Greg) O’Brien, of China; grandchildren, Jude, Crosby and Audrey O’Brien; brothers, James (JoAnn) McCarthy, of Highland Park, Illinois, and Pat (Sandy) McCarthy, of Calhoun, Georgia; sister-in-law, Sue McCarthy, of Summit, Ilinois; special cousin, Daryl Glowa, of Santa Monica, California; cousin, Bruce Glowa (Sharon), of Chicago, Ilinois; brother-in-law, Mike (Liz) McKinney, of Concord, New Hampshire; sisters-in-law, Laura (Rob) Krapohl, of Round Lake Beach, Ilinois, and Vicki (Kevin) Langston, of Tallahassee, Florida; numerous nieces and nephews; and very special friend, Delta Jones, of Rogersville, Alabama.
Services for Mr. McCarthy will be Friday, June 19, 11 a.m. at Spry-Williams Funeral Home with visitation preceding the service from 10-11 a.m. Dr. Robert Gamble will officiate. Mr. McCarthy had chosen to be cremated.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, Alacare Hospice, or a charity of your choice.
You may sign the guest register at sprywilliams.com.
