Chesterton Tribune

 

 

Former Sheriff Timothy McCarthy passes away at age 89

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Timothy E. McCarthy, age 89, passed away at home on October 1, 2020.

He was born on January 1, 1931, the first Fort Wayne, Indiana 1931 New Year baby, to Edwin T. McCarthy, a city police detective, and Ramona (Barva) McCarthy, a school teacher, both deceased.

His siblings are a set of twins, Rosann McCarthy Daniel and Joann McCarthy Kirkhoff, both deceased. A second set of twins, James and Carol McCarthy died within days after birth. A surviving sibling is John J. McCarthy, Sr. who lives in Fort Wayne, IN.

On November 24, 1956, he married Carole A. Miller of Liberty Township. They were married in the old St. Paul’s Church in Valparaiso. They have two children, Timothy E. McCarthy II and Colleen Marie McCarthy, and two granddaughters, Kerry McCarthy and Kathleen McCarthy.

Tim McCarthy has a long record of public service. He served in the Air Force during the Korean War, was an Indiana State Police officer for 25 years, was elected Porter County Sheriff twice for 8 years, and elected County Assessor three times for 12 years. He also was an Indiana Licensed Real Estate Broker.

University of Notre Dame football fans will long remember Tim McCarthy. As a state trooper in 1960, he was assigned the task of giving a safety message to the stadium crowd during the 4th quarter of each Notre Dame home game. It was an effort to reduce traffic mishaps. But no one seemed to listen as the stadium stayed as noisy as usual. He then tried to attract some attention by ending each message with a corny quip, such as: Driving half lit. . .is not very bright! The immediate reaction from the fans were groans and boos, but after a few games they began quieting down simply to hear a corny quip. Suddenly the roar of the entire stadium quickly became as quiet as a church as soon as Tim began his message. As a result the crowd listened to the entire safety message just to hear the quips. His plan worked! Asked to continue even though he retired from police work he volunteered to do so and finally brought it to an end in 2015, a total of 55 years. Tim was also a popular speaker at pep rallies and many student events and programs. He became quite a legendary figure to ND football fans. In 2010, he was made an Honorary Member of the Notre Dame Athletes Monogram Club.

McCarthy is also credited with having a large audience in 1958 from a radio show named “Signal 10”. It was a public safety production by WGN Radio in Chicago and the Indiana State Police. It featured Trooper Tim McCarthy equipped with a small and unseen tape recorder who would record conversations between himself and traffic violators. It was comical, but also penetrating, listening to the foolish excuses and arguments given by dangerous drivers. It became a favorite radio broadcast by WGN every Sunday evening at 6 p.m. when weekend traffic was the heaviest. Signal 10 eventually was played by more than fifty radio stations in the U.S., two English speaking stations in South America, and the U.S. Armed Forces Network in Europe for more than six years. In 1959, WGN won the prestigious Alfred P. Sloan Award for Public Safety and Broadcasting for the first time by a Chicago radio station.

In 1976 he was selected as Indiana Law Officer of the Year by the Indiana State Department of the American Legion. Tim was an Honorary Member of the University of Notre Dame Athletes Monogram Club. He also held life memberships in the Knights of Columbus Council 738, Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 165, American Legion Post 94, and the Indiana Sheriff’s Association. He was also a member of 40 & 8 Voiture 1507, Moose Lodge 1357, Pioneers of the Indiana State Police, American Association of State Troopers, Chicago Irish Gaelic Park, a Past Board Officer of the Ancient Order of Hibernians of LaPorte County, and years as a Board Member of the Porter County American Red Cross.

Visitation for Tim will be from 3-7 p.m. on Thursday, October 8, at Newhard Funeral Home, 58 W. Walnut St. in Westville.

Due to the Covid-19 restrictions, the funeral mass with his family will be private. Tim will be laid to rest next to his wife Carole in St. Mary Catholic Cemetery in Otis.

www.newhardfuneralhome.com

 

Posted 10/5/2020

 
 
 
 

 

 

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