Noreen McCarthy

In 1952, looking for better opportunities, Noreen boarded a boat from Ireland and sailed to the United States on one of the last ships to pass through Ellis Island. With the equivalent of $10 in her pocket, she found her way to Chicago. There she met and married Robert McCarthy and together they had five children: Robert, Thomas (Joel Gottsacker), Mary (Robert) Cadle, Kathleen (Sean) O'Hare, and Paul (Tami) McCarthy.

To help support her large family, she attended nursing school and became a highly regarded registered nurse in labor and delivery at Victory Hospital in Waukegan.

It has been said of her, “there are five elemental forces at work on this planet. Earth, wind, fire, water, and Noreen.”

She is survived by her previously mentioned five children and her grandchildren Katryna and Paul Cadle, Claire, Bobby and Grace McCarthy and Madeleine McCarthy as well as her great grandchildren Brodie and Ryder (and a girl on the way). She is preceded by and reunited in death with her husband Robert McCarthy. Peace be with you, Noreen, you will be missed.