Dorothy “Dot” F. (Parkes) McCarthy was born on February 16, 1939. She was raised in Boston and was a 1956 graduate of Girls High in Boston’s South End.
Dot married Francis “Mac” F. McCarthy at St. Paul’s Church in Dorchester on September 20, 1958. They lived across the street from St. Margaret’s Hospital in an apartment before moving to Walpole in 1960.
Dot stayed at home raising 5 children until she went back to work in the Walpole Public School System as a library aid. She went on to work for her nephew Paul at Kenerson and Associates for many years until the company moved to the north shore. She continued working as a sales coordinator for manufacturers’ representatives of the food industry until she could no longer work due to her illness.
She loved to bowl and get together with her friends, aka “the hen club”. She sewed and did arts and crafts. Every summer she would stand over the stove with boiling pots of water to cook lobsters for everyone, but never partook in eating one of the crustations.
Mrs. McCarthy was the wife of Francis F. McCarthy and mother of Cynthia A. Rafanelli (Mark), Lt. Commander Kevin F. McCarthy, MD, US Navy (Lindee), Deborah J. Richardson (Mark), Stephen D. McCarthy (Margaret), and Valerie A. McCarthy (Marge).
She was a grandmother of 14.
Dot passed away in her Walpole home on Saturday, January 6, 2001, after battling cancer for nearly two years. She is buried in Saint Francis Cemetery in Walpole, MA with other family members.
