Mary Soons McCarty

Provided by Wright Funerals-Cremations

Mary Soons McCarty

High Point

Mary Soons McCarty, 92, an outgoing, kind, generous woman, died at home on February 4, 2018, after many years of suffering with dementia.

Born in Hackensack, NJ to Martha Croft Dunhill and Sydney Grover Soons, Mary grew up in West Englewood, NJ.   Mary graduated from Dwight School for Girls in 1943 and attended Vassar College until she married Stuart McCarty on February 8, 1944, her partner for 73 years. Stuart died on May 11, 2017. 

When Stuart returned from service after WWII in July 1946, they lived in West Englewood until they bought their first home in Glen Rock, NJ in December 1947.   In 1959 they moved to Ridgewood, NJ, and then to Binghamton, NY, before moving to Rochester, NY in 1977 and High Point, NC in 2010.

Mary received her BS in History and Religion at age 62 from Nazareth College (Rochester NY) located across the street from their home.  Her love of trees prompted her to prepare an inventory of the campus trees as her senior project, which resulted in a book titled “Trees of Nazareth”.  She funded a project to prune the Indian Council Oak (a tree with a 15’ circumference on the Nazareth campus) and have an outdoor classroom made with the removed branches.

Mary was a keen competitor in swimming, tennis, bowling, squash, ping pong, cards and board games.  She was a skilled and passionate gardener, dedicated to composting. She supported environmental conservation causes and served as the first female President of the NY Forest Owners Association. She volunteered as a reader for WXXI’s Reachout Radio for 20 years, and was the first woman on the Board of Directors of Binghamton General Hospital.  Mary loved singing and listening to music. She loved dogs and trained each of them to be a loyal companion. She and Stuart traveled widely and spent 41 winters in the Florida Keys.

Mary lived a life of activity and involvement with people.  She had an amazing ability to find connections with everyone she met.  She valued looking people in the eye, committed herself to complimenting three people every day, and planted flowers each spring.  Mary and Stuart found each other early in life.  They both believed it was the most important choice to be made in life and that they chose well!

Mary is survived by her children: Stuart McCarty II (Lynn Thor), Martha Ann McCarty (Bo Fried), Jane Dunhill McCarty (Michael Bell) and Mary Croft McCarty (Lieselotte Zorn), four grandchildren, five great grandchildren and four step-grandchildren. She was predeceased by her older siblings (Marjorie Simpson Bonnett and William Reginald Soons).

The essence of Mary lives on in those whom she has left behind. She will be missed.

The family expresses deep appreciation to the amazing caregiving team.  Thank you to Kelly, Michael, Tamara, Nikita, Shanna, Naomi, and Hospice of the Piedmont. Thank you to the Sisters and kind residents and staff of Pennybyrn at Maryfield for their support and friendship.

Donations in lieu of flowers can be made to Maryfield Resident Care Fund (109 Penny Road, High Point, NC 27260).

A memorial service will be held at Pennybyrn at Maryfield Independent Living Center at 2pm on February 24, 2018.

Condolences may be expressed online at www.wrightcremationandfuneral.com.

Wright Cremation & Funeral Service is in charge of arrangements.