Phyllis McCarthy Obituary

Phyllis McCarthy died May 18th at home surrounded by her family in Lawrence, Kansas. Phyllis Elaine Niemann was born, also at home, on a farm outside the small town of Nortonville, Kansas, on August 7, 1923. Her parents were Effie Caroline Brunkow and Louis Carl Niemann. Phyllis attended country schools and the Lutheran School for her primary education. For high school, she attended Nortonville High and then transferred to Atchison County Community High School for her senior year.

A course in Correspondence School enabled her to get her first job at Walgreens in downtown Topeka. In 1943 she started a job at the Sante Fe Railroad where she stayed until after the war ended. In August of 1945, Phyllis enrolled at the University of Iowa where she majored in nutrition with plans to be a dietician. She graduated in June of 1949.

At the University of Iowa, she met Paul McCarthy, a recently returned veteran of WWII. He was studying American Lit and the pair married in 1948. Next in their lives, followed a succession of moves to accommodate Paul's career as he began teaching at Iowa State, worked on his PhD at the University of Texas, continued his academic career at University of Idaho, University of North Dakota and the University of Alabama. In each state, a new red headed child joined the family until the total was up to five-three girls, two boys. All along the way, Phyllis supported her husband by typing his manuscripts, doing research for him and taking care of all the chores and the children on the home front. She sewed clothes for her daughters, accompanied her sons to sporting events and faithfully chaperoned children in whatever activity they were engaged in.

The final move in this family's lives brought them back to the Midwest and Kansas State University. Once her kids were all in school, Phyllis worked outside the home by taking a job at Marlatt School across the street from their home. But she also worked at KSU in the Mechanical Engineering Department for the year Paul took a sabbatical to work on a book. Afterwards she worked in the Pathology Department in the Veterinary Hospital, a job she found very fulfilling, given her lifelong love of animals.

Phyllis loved to play bridge, go to garage sales, walk down to the shopping center and get coffee at the neighborhood McDonalds. Her love of sports never ended. She was an avid KSU fan and a lifelong KC Royals fan, usually listening by radio. Love of travel led to numerous trips, many with the local Parks and Rec bus to regional sites. She was a long-time member of Peace Lutheran Church in Manhattan, Kansas.

After Paul died in 2007, Phyllis moved to Lawrence to be closer to two of her daughters. There she lived independently for nine years. As her Parkinson's disease progressed, she lived for five and one/half additional years with Patty, Susie and Jim in rotation, usually moving month by month between the three homes. She is survived by five children: Patty McCarthy Metzler (Steve), Lawrence, Ks; Susan McCarthy (Bill James), Lawrence, Ks; Jim McCarthy (Darla), Olathe, Ks; Tom McCarthy (Laurel), Coggon, Iowa; Marybeth McCarthy, Lake Orion, MI; fifteen grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday May 24, 2022 at the Yorgensen-Meloan-Londeen Funeral Home in Manhattan. Interment will follow in the Sunrise Cemetery in Manhattan.

In memoriam the family suggests contributions to the Parkinson's Foundation or to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). Contributions may be sent to the Yorgensen-Meloan-Londeen Funeral Home, 1616 Poyntz Avenue, Manhattan, Kansas 66502.

Online condolences may be left through the funeral home website at www.ymlfuneralhome.com