On January 18, 2020 Dr. Gird Astor McCarty, Jr., “Mac”, passed away peacefully in his Tennessee home surrounded by his immediate family. He joins in Heaven his first wife, Kay, daughter, Mary Kay, sister, Judy, father, G.A., Sr., mother, Edna, and step-mother, Marion.
Born on July 29, 1936 in Jackson, Mississippi Mac and his twin brother, Jim, earned the reputation of being so mischievous that their mother had to hire a “sack boy” at the Jitney Jungle to supervise them while she shopped for groceries. Mac got a jump start on high school science when he found the formula for nitroglycerine in his textbook. He managed to acquire the ingredients on his dad’s account at the drug company. He and Jim survived the explosion, and both graduated from Central High School in 1954.
In 1958, Mac was awarded a B.S. in Physics from Millsaps College where he was a member of the Kappa Alpha Order. He married Kay, his high school sweetheart, and went to work for IBM before attending the University of Tennessee School of Dentistry, graduating in 1964.
After six years of practicing dentistry, Mac attended M.D. Anderson University of Texas, Houston, TX where he earned a Masters in Maxillofacial Prosthetics (Dental Oncology) in 1972. From 1973-1981 he was on the faculty of the University of Tennessee School of Dentistry in Memphis and served as Department Chair of Prosthodontics. He and his wife Kay were active leaders of a Young Adult Single’s Ministry at Colonial Park United Methodist Church.
In 1982 Mac opened a private practice at Methodist Hospital in Memphis. Many of his patients were cancer survivors; all had severe cranio-facial anomalies. The custom prostheses he made helped to restore the dignity and mainstream lifestyle of people who had been ashamed to appear in public. He also worked with newborn babies with cleft palates. He created obturators enabling them to eat and thrive, bringing joy and hope to their parents.
On rare occasions, Mac treated animals at the Memphis Zoo that veterinarians could not help. He removed a coin from a hyena's jaw and repaired a macaw's beak.
In 1986 he moved his family to Johnson City, Tennessee and worked as a Prosthodontist at the Mountain Home Veteran’s Administration. He retired in 2007 after surviving Stephen-Johnson’s syndrome. When his wife, Kay, passed, Mac married a junior high school friend, Meg, and moved to Hensley Airpark in Chuckey, Tennessee. They enjoyed every moment of their years together; in his final months she cared for him lovingly and selflessly.
Mac could fix anything. He often conceived a project to justify the purchase of a new power tool he fancied for his shop. He built furniture and restored many old cars, a Model A Ford, a 1952 Packard and a 1969 MG-B. He was fascinated by airplanes and built models all his life. In retirement, Mac got his pilot’s license and built a Vans RV-9A.
Mac’s legacy and his passions for vintage automobiles, firearms, aviation, Hank Williams and bluegrass music will live on in those who survive him, his wife, Meg; daughter, Monica; grandson, Mac Benning; granddaughter, Emily Benning; grandson, Everett Bridgers; great-grandson, Archer Cordts; brother, Jim (Patsy); nieces, Lisa McCarty Pugsley(Jason) and Janet McCarty; great nephew, Joel Pugsley.
His celebration of life will be at 1 p.m. on Friday, January 24, 2020 at the Chapel of Lakewood Memorial Park, 6011 Clinton Blvd., Jackson, Mississippi, with visitation from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Memorial Fundraiser for G.A. McCarty. http://mdacc.convio.net/goto/gamccarty
