Shawn P. McCarthy: June 20, 1959 – October 31, 2023
Shawn P. McCarthy of Summerville, SC, formerly of Southborough, MA, who was predeceased by his parents, George E. McCarthy, Sr. and Faith Ann McCarthy, passed away on October 31st, 2023, after a very brief illness.
He is survived by his wife, of ten year, Linda; brothers George Jr. and his fiancé Ann McGovern, of Natick; Mark of Las Vegas; and Scott and his fiancé, Viktor Slavov of Key West; his nephew and nieces, Lt Sean McCarthy and his wife, Tina of Southborough; Molly McCarthy of N. Grafton; and Cameo Prado of Hot Springs, AR.; as well as his great niece and nephew, Claire and Cormick MCCARTHY of Southborough (Shawn got a kick out of videos and pictures of Claire and Cormick’s games on the Southborough fields) and Bridget Faith and James Erik Prado of Hot Springs AR; and many cousins.
Shawn is also survived by his wife Linda’s siblings and their families, all of SC, who welcomed Shawn as part of their Scottish clan in the deep south, including Dave Meade and his wife Karen, Paula Frederick, and Amanda Carder; Linda’s sons, Andrew and Otto Kruse and the seven grandchildren.
Shawn graduated from Fay School and St. John’s High before working on the line at General Motors until the Framingham plant closed and retired from the Sudbury School Department before moving to SC, twenty years ago.
Before retiring, he partnered with his brother Scott, when they owned and operated McCarthy’s on Main St in Southborough (The Spa). Shawn, also with two buddies from Southborough operated SSS Cleaning, which maintained office buildings and warehouses occupied by Data General In Southborough.
Shawn was the social director at The Fayville Athletic Association and the Commissioner of the Southborough Men’ s Softball League for many years. As he was lining the field for the last time, he spelled out in ten foot letters along the embankment in front of the Woodward School, visible from Route 85, SHAWN MCCARTHY STADIUM.
Shawn’s Dad, George Sr, taught his four sons to love baseball and play poker, including “Liar’s Poker”. When Shawn was a little kid, George Sr. called him Rico, as in Rico Petrocelli of the Red Sox. Shawn loved the Sox and dreamed about making the team. Although his dream never came true, to watch Shawn track down a fly ball was a thing of beauty. He was off at the crack of the bat and did not look particularly fast moving his lanky body across the outfield but almost always snagged the ball. Sometimes when playing in front of the Woodward School, he’d make the catch and his momentum would take him over the stonewall and across Rt 85.
Shawn played softball in up to five leagues at a time, including the GM graveyard shift league where the games started at 7:00 a.m. When league rules permitted, he preferred to play the outfield, barefooted.
Shawn would not allow anyone to bring a Yankee hat into his home, where he had a large picture of himself with his outstretched glove about to catch a baseball up against the Green Monster at Fenway. At one time, Von Eshelman, a pitcher for the Sox rented a condo from Shawn, who had the pitcher sign the living room wall. His last text to his brothers before his sudden illness, was a discussion about their “last” baseball gloves. He sent a picture of his glove and said “I see it every day, if I look in the right direction.”
Shawn’s wife Linda came to the United States from Scotland in 1972, followed by her siblings. She was married to her husband Otto for 33 yrs before he passed away, about a year before she met Shawn, of course, at a poker game. While he lived in Southborough, Shawn was the ultimate townie and everyone was shocked when he retired to SC. He loved SC right off the bat and after meeting Linda, he made it clear that he was never moving back to Southborough.
He kept in contact with his pals from the Fayville Athletic Association. In fact, a photo of his great pal Paul “Moon” MacArthur, still hangs in Shawn’s home. He also attended McCarthy Brothers’ reunions, sometimes in Key West, Las Vegas and Old Orchard Beach.
Shawn’s friends and family gathered after his passing at his favorite restaurant, Oscar’s in Summerville, SC.
His brothers would like his friends and family to join them for “SHAWN MCCARTHY NIGHT” at the Fayville Athletic Association on November 30, 2023 from 6-8 p.m., 6 Grove Street, Fayville, (Southborough), MA.
(Photo and Obituary contributed by his brothers)
