HYDE PARK, Mass., and BANGOR – Avis Patricia (Ertha) McCarty, 83, died quietly in her sleep Sept. 17, 2009, after a long illness. She was a resident at Hebrew Rehabilitation Center, Boston. Avis was born Dec. 9, 1925, in Houlton, the third of eight children to William Douglas and Alice Mabel (Winslow) Ertha. Avis moved to Bangor, where she met and married John McCarty. She gave birth to seven children. She moved to Boston in the early 1960s and worked at Boston University and General Dynamics. She was known to all as an extremely kind and generous spirit. Avis was honored with the Maine Chapter of the NAACP Martin Luther King Award for her dedication to community service. She also received the Mothers Award from St. Johns Community Center, Roxbury, Mass. Avis was predeceased by her husband, John McCarty Sr. of Bangor; children, Ralph “Mackey” McCarty and Avis Pauline “Polly” Jones; an adopted son, Vernon Womble; a grandchild, Sherrie McCarty; and siblings, Elinor Blanche (Ertha) Dymond, William Cedric Ertha, Ralph Beverly Ertha, Philip Winslow Ertha and Frances Audrey (Ertha) Johnson. She is survived by six children, Alice Marie (Ertha) and husband, Willie “Cuz’n” Williams, of Hyde Park, Mass., Steven Douglas McCarty and spouse, Carolyn “Shay” Olds, of Carthage, N.C., Grace (McCarty) Coutee of California, John Alexander McCarty and spouse, Sarah, of Brockton, Mass., Mildred Gloria (McCarty) and spouse, Greg Young, of Dorchester, Mass., and Effie “Candy” and her spouse, Bill Jackson, of Hyde Park, Mass.; her brother, John Edward Ertha of Freeport; sister, Helene Roberta (Ertha) Vann of Albuquerque, N.M.; and a very close family friend, Jackie Morris. A wake will be held 11 a.m.-noon Wednesday, Sept. 23, at J. B. Johnson Funeral Home, 196 Warren St., Roxbury, Mass., where the funeral service will be held immediately after with Avis’ nephew, the Rev. Philip W. Ertha, officiating. A repast will be held 1:30-4 p.m. Wednesday at Boston Police VFW Hall No. 1018, 500 Morton St. – on the corner of American Legion Highway. Graveside services will be 1:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 25, at Mount Hope Cemetery, Bangor. Relatives and friends are invited to meet 1:15 p.m. at the Superintendents Lodge, 1048 State St., Bangor. A service of Brookings-Smith, Bangor.
AVIS PATRICIA (ERTHA) MCCARTY
