Rita Mccarthy

Newport, - Rita Speckman McCarthy, 90, of 309 Spring Street Newport, formerly of 115 Young Drive Portsmouth, RI, died Saturday, February 26, 2005 at Saint Clares HomeNewport, RI.She was the wife of the late William D. McCarthy. Born in Newport, RI on October 3, 1914, she was the daughter of the late Peter and Nora Smith Speckman.Mrs. McCarthy was educated in the Newport Schools and graduated from St. Catherines Academy of New York City in 1931 and took a post graduate course in Social Secretarial Studies. She returned to Newport in 1932 and worked for Gustave J. S. White until she married in 1937. After the death of her husband in July, 1960, she began her social secretary career and worked for many of the Newport colonists among them Mrs. Harold Brown, Mrs Lawrence Lewis Gillespie, Mr. Maxim Karolik, Mrs. Harvey S. Firestone Jr., Mr. Mrs. John R. Drexel III, Mr. Mrs. Hugh D. Auchincloss, Mr. Mrs. Theodore P. Grosvenor, Mrs. Robert H. Charles and many more. She did many of the debutante parties and weddings of the young daughters of her clients. She belonged to St. Josephs and St. Marys Rosary and Altar Societies, The Preservation Society, Redwood Library, Newport Historical Society, The Newport Art Museum, The Boys and Girls Club Of Newport, The Wanumetonomy Golf Club and the Hazards Beach Association. In the 1950s to the 1980s she worked for many charitable organizations such as secretary for three years to the ?March of Dimes?, collected for the Cancer Society, Catholic Charity Drives, She also volunteered for Meals on Wheels for many years, and the American Red Cross, Newport Hospital Rolling Library and in its Coffee Shop. She was on the Board of the Newport Hospital Auxillary, the Boys and Girls Club. She served as president of the Mosaic Club and the Mothers Club of De La Salle Academy. She was communicant of St. Marys Church since 1978.She is survived by two sons Paul W. McCarthy of Portsmouth, RI and Peter R. McCarthy of Arlington, VA.She was the mother of the late William D. McCarthy Jr. Her funeral will be held Wednesday, March 2, 2005 at 9:00AM from the Hambly Funeral Home Brick House, 30 Red Cross Avenue, Newport, with a Mass of Christian burial at 10:00AM in St. Marys Church, Spring Street, Newport. Burial will be in St. Columba Cemetery Middletown.