John Robert McCarthy, 90, of Columbia passed away peacefully on November 14, 2024. The Rite of Christian Burial was celebrated at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church on November 21, 2024, followed by inurnment at Memorial Park Cemetery.
John met the love of his life, Carol Ann Hall, in high school in Peoria, Illinois and they were united in marriage on January 25, 1958. The couple moved to Tucson, Arizona so John could complete his Master’s degree and it was there that their daughter, Kathleen Ann, was born.
The family returned to Peoria in 1960, where John worked for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service for 13 years and then in Missouri for another 23 years.
John and Carol loved to travel and always spent two weeks in the northern states every summer and two weeks in the southern states every winter. John especially enjoyed fly fishing, a good German beer and quizzing his grandchildren with math and science problems.
Survivors include daughter Kathy Bailey; grandchildren Andrew Bailey, Angie Bailey, Brandon Bailey and Brittany Lawler; as well as a great-grandchild, Matthew Bailey and a great-great-grandchild, Matthias Bailey. John was preceded in death by his parents, John H. and Anna (Miller) McCarthy, and his beloved wife Carol.
