Robert Patrick Mc Carthy III

Robert Patrick McCarthy III (“Mac” or Bob), age 89, who readily admitted that he was past the prime of his life, “checked out” at his home, on Sunday January 20, 2013 and left to spend eternity with the Good Lord in His heavenly kingdom. He originally “checked in” on August 12, 1923 in St. Matthews, Jefferson County, Kentucky, the third son of Jerry P. and Helen Rose (Meisner) McCarthy. He was married on September 2, 1950 to his loving wife, Joan C. (Riggs) McCarthy in St. Matthews, Kentucky. He is also survived by his three children, James T. (Mary K.) McCarthy, Robert P. (Ellen J.) McCarthy IV and Pamela A. (Steven P.) McGurren; his five grandchildren, J. Timothy (Jane) McCarthy, John P. (Lindsay N.) McCarthy, Kathleen A. McCarthy, Daniel P. McGurren, and Kelly A. McGurren, along with three great grandchildren, Reagan C. McCarthy, J. Dylan McCarthy, and Emma I. McCarthy. He is survived by his brother John J. (Marylee) McCarthy of Lyndon, Kentucky. He was preceded in death by his brothers Paul R. and Jerome T. McCarthy.

Robert P. McCarthy graduated from Anchorage High School in Anchorage, Kentucky in 1941. From 1943 to 1946, he served as an X-ray technician in the Army Medical Corps with the 47th General Hospital in Milne Bay, New Guinea; the 7th Evacuation Hospital in Luzon, Philippines; and with 42nd General Hospital in the Army of Occupation in Yokohama, Tokyo, Japan. He was honorably discharged as T4 Sergeant in April of 1946, having received several decorations, including two Bronze Battle Stars.

Mac enrolled at Eastern Kentucky State College (University) in the fall of 1946 and graduated in 1949 with a BS degree in chemistry. He then entered the Graduate School at the University of Louisville, where he was a Teaching Assistant in the Graduate School, and the recipient of the first sponsored Research Fellowship in Chemistry (American Air Filter Corporation) at the University. He then received his Master’s Degree in Chemistry in January of 1951. His Master’s Thesis and research work on air pollution resulted in two national publications and he was the holder of three patents for the use of fiberglass for air filters, which are nearly universally used in furnaces and air-cleaning devices to this day.

After his graduation, Bob was appointed as the Manager of Research and Development at FAMCO, Inc., and as an executive in the Glass Fiber Division of the American Air Filter Company in Louisville, Kentucky from 1951 to 1959. During that time, he pioneered chemical techniques and manufacturing methods for the new field of glass fiber-reinforced thermoset plastics. Refinements of this technology are still used in nearly all glass fiber reinforced plastic materials.

Mac re-located to the Kansas City area in 1959, serving as manager of the Butler Manufacturing Plastics Plant in Grandview, Missouri until his retirement in 1985. He was a two-term President of the Grandview Chamber of Commerce from 1965-1967, and served as a member of this civic group for over 20 years. Mac was a member of the Board of Directors of the Truman Farm Home in Grandview in the 1960s and 1970s. His reputation and professional qualifications led to his listing as a member of the Who’s Who in the Plastics Industry. He was a career-long member of the American Society of Quality Control and a member of the American Chemical Society for 60 years at the time of his death.

Bob was a founding member of the Cure of Ars Parish in Leawood Kansas, also serving as a member and President of the Cure of Ars Parish Council, the School Board (member and President), and a founding member of Boy Scout troop 395 at the parish. He also served on the School Board of St. Teresa’s Academy 1973-1976. He was also a founding member of the Church of the Nativity in Leawood, Kansas.

Mac was a member of the Leawood South Country Club, and an avid golfer who was widely known for his one-liners, and a telephone-booth backswing. On consecutive days in 2003, he shot his age (79, then 80 on his birthday), and he had two holes-in-one during his golfing career.

This loving husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather and dear friend will be deeply missed, but his example and words of wisdom will always keep him as Number One in our hearts. The family requests, in lieu of flowers, that remembrances be directed to the Mayo Clinic Division of Cardiovascular Diseases for research in Congestive Heart Failure, 200 1st St SW, Rochester, MN 55905.

Mass of Christian Burial will be held Thursday, January 24th, 11:00 a.m., at Church of the Nativity, 3800 West 119th Street, Leawood, KS, with entombment following in Resurrection Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 9:45 a.m., to 11:00 a.m., prior to the mass.

Condolences may be left online at www.mcgilleystatelinechapel.com.