Philip Reynolds McCarthy

Philip Reynolds McCarthy, 98, husband, father, brother, church and community volunteer died Tuesday, December 29, 2020 at Heritage Springs Memory Care, Lewisburg PA,

He was born January 24, 1922 in Flatbush, Brooklyn, NY, with its tree-lined streets, twenty minutes from the beach, his forever hometown. He was a son of the late Harold Reynolds and Eugenia (Marshall) McCarthy.

Philip was a graduate of P.S. 89, and Erasmus Hall High School. Special memories were roller-skating to school and lifelong friendships.

He started his career working with numbers and people at the Williamsburg Savings Bank. His pleasant, friendly manner impressed everyone he met throughout his life. During WWII, Philip served stateside in the Army Air Force as a payroll clerk. He received his accounting degree from NYU School of Commerce, now NYU Stern School of Business and passed the CPA exam.

Philip worked for several years for a New York public accounting firm and then transitioned to non-profit accounting when he became Assistant Comptroller at Union Theological Seminary, New York, NY for 19 years, and Controller at St. Francis Hospital in Olean, NY for 7 years and at Genesee Memorial Hospital in Batavia NY for 11 years. His neighbors in Batavia remember him commuting to work on his bicycle, wearing his suit and tie with his attaché case strapped on the back of the bike. After retiring from his accounting career at age 70, he enjoyed working part-time as a blacksmith for the Genesee Country Village and Museum, Mumford, NY.

Philip was a prolific photographer and he leaves behind an extensive record of family events and his travels.  He was a lifelong train nut. His enthusiasm included all forms of rail transport. Subway trips with the family usually included riding in the first car and watching the tracks through the front window. Philip’s many interests also included vegetable gardening, hiking, camping and ice-skating. He sported a mustache ever since he completed a weeklong backpack on the Appalachian Trail in Vermont with his two daughters in 1971.

Philip also enjoyed his volunteer work for the churches he belonged to, with Rotary International, and the County Hospice organizations in Olean and in Batavia.  In 1966, he was a founding member of the Upper Manhattan Rotary Club, now the Rotary Club of Harlem. After many years of service, Rotary gave him the honor of naming him a Paul Harris Fellow. In 2019, he still enjoyed attending weekly meetings and he received a certificate as an honorary member of the Batavia Rotary Club.   

Surviving, are a daughter, Lydia G. Storey, of Lewisburg, a brother, Robert M. (Marge) McCarthy of Santa Fe, NM, and nephews and nieces and their families. In addition: two stepchildren from his second marriage, Nancy Clark, of  Allen, TX, and Ted (Amy) Ciezak of Cuba, NY, grandchildren Kendra, Jennifer and Cory and their families; and two stepchildren from his third marriage, Danny (Patricia) Bastedo of Lancaster, NY and Judy (Peter) Thompson of Alexander, NY.

He was predeceased, by his wife, Dolores Kosiorek, in 2018 and in 2008, by his wife of 35 years, Doris Ciezak. He was also predeceased, by two daughters, Adele D. Kohler, a newborn, and his former wife and mother of his children, Alice Rojas.

Burial will be in the family plot in Amawalk Hill Cemetery, Yorktown Heights, NY.

The family suggests donations in Philip’s memory to Hospice of Evangelical, a service of Evangelical Community Hospital, Lewisburg PA. Evan Hospice provided excellent care for Philip during his final days and, many years earlier, when he contacted them to care for his stepmother, Ina McCarthy.

The family is being assisted by Cronrath-Grenoble Funeral Home, South Second and St. Louis Streets, Lewisburg.

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