Role in parade has Irish eyes smiling

Ten Hills native leads festivities as Honorary Grand Marshal

March 17, 2010

William McCarthy Jr. enjoyed the view as he walked behind Baltimore's Marching Ravens March 14 during the annual St. Patrick's Parade in Baltimore. (Staff photo by Nicole Martyn of Catonsville Times)

By Jay R. Thompson
As appeared in the Catonsville Times

The air was chilly and the sky was overcast for Baltimore's St. Patrick's Day Parade March 14, but Ten Hills native William McCarthy Jr. is used to it.

The 48-year-old has learned to expect cold weather at the parade.

"My mom and dad, my sisters and I used to always go," McCarthy said. "What I can remember is, at the age of 5, being at the parade, sitting along Charles Street, with a hot pretzel and a hot chocolate.

"It was a very festive atmosphere," he said.

McCarthy, an Irish-American and a Catholic, didn't sit along Charles Street this year.

He walked right down the middle of the street, wearing a tuxedo, top hat and sash, as Honorary Grand Marshal of the parade.

"Having spent my life here, being recognized this way is an honor and it's humbling," McCarthy said.

"I couldn't imagine as a young boy going to the parade, that I would be honored this way," he said. "When they called me to tell me, I was really taken aback by it."

This isn't McCarthy's first time in the parade, however.

Six or seven years ago, he and his son, Ryan, marched in the parade with the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick and the Hibernians.

In 2008, the pair rode in a 1959 Ford Thunderbird.

Last year, they carried the official St. Patrick's Day banner.

He is also not the only person with connections to Catonsville to have played a role in the parade.

Catonsville resident Ann Coleman McDonnell was Grand Marshall of the 2009 event.

For about 10 years, she and her husband, Carbra, have been volunteering to help make the parade happen.

In 2007, McDonnell was chairwoman of the parade committee and her husband was chairman of the bands committee.

Grand Marshal and Honorary Grand Marshal are chosen for their service to the community.

"The Grand Marshal is generally somebody from within the Irish community," McDonnell said. "The Honorary Grand Marshal is usually someone from the greater community."

McDonnell thinks the bylaws of the parade committee require that a Grand Marshal be chosen for the parade, but that an Honorary Grand Marshal is not required, she said.

"It's just an extra honor that's extended to someone in the broader community," she said.

Traditionally, if someone serves as chairman of the parade committee for a full term, they're considered for the honor of Grand Marshal, McDonnell said.

"Basically, if you last through the three years ... generally that person is nominated and selected as the Grand Marshal," McDonnell said.

McDonnell thinks McCarthy was a worthy choice for Honorary Grand Marshal.

"He's a super nice guy," she said. "Just a genuine person.

"I was really happy when his name was selected," she said.

McCarthy, a graduate of Loyola High School, now Loyola Blakefield, and University of Baltimore, grew up in Ten Hills neighborhood, just just inside the city line from Catonsville. He now lives in Lutherville with his wife, Maria, and their son, Ryan, 14.

McCarthy's mother, Marie, lives in Catonsville, in the Foxhall Farm neighborhood off South Rolling Road.

His sisters, Kathleen and Nancy, live in Ellicott City and Bel Air, respectively.

As an attorney, McCarthy operated a private practice specializing in tax law.

Later, he worked in management positions at Allfirst Financial, M & T Bank and Sun Trust Bank.

While at Sun Trust, the bank sponsored a float in the St. Patrick's Day Parade and McCarthy was "instrumental" in securing the sponsorship, McDonnell said.

She said the parade committee agreed that McCarthy earned the position of Honorary Grand Marshal.

"I think it was unanimously voted on by all the members," McDonnell said.

"He has a lot of responsibility, but he's just like the guy next door."

McDonnell referred to McCarthy's current job as executive director of Catholic Charities in Baltimore, the largest provider of human services in Maryland, as well as his participation in a variety of local organizations.

McCarthy is a trustee of Maryvale Preparatory School, where his daughter, Erinn, was a student from sixth to ninth grade. Erinn died at 14 of bone cancer in 2007.

McCarthy and his wife became co-chairs of the school's capital campaign "In Her Name: The Campaign for Maryvale," which kicked off in 2009 and named in honor of Erinn.

McCarthy is also chairman of the operating board at St. Joseph Medical Center, a trustee of the Maryland Public Television Foundation, president of the Beacon Charitable Foundation and a member of the advisory board of the Beechmont Foundation.

"He's just the kind of person you meet and he has a big smile," McDonnell said.

McCarthy said the best part of participating in the parade in recent years has been "being able to march with my son.

"Passing on a little bit of tradition -- a bit of heritage," he said.

While St. Patrick's Day is celebrated in a variety of ways and not exclusively by those with Irish roots, McCarthy does bleed green.

"My grandmother was born here but spent some time in Ireland," McCarthy said. "My great-grandparents immigrated here from Ireland."

His Irish Catholic heritage -- specifically the generations that made the trip to the United States -- is important to McCarthy.

"I kind of imagine what the challenges, and struggles, and the opportunities were," McCarthy said. "We take pride in those that came before us.

"Back then, the church was a great support and community," he said.

McCarthy's appreciation for the annual parade -- the marching bands and bagpipes in particular -- seems not to have diminished, even though he thinks the city's cultural ancestry is celebrated less than it once was.

"Baltimore had a history of celebrating immigrant heritage," he said. "We don't seem to have as much of that as we used to."

McCarthy did his part to stoke the fires of Irish heritage in the March 14 parade by carrying a walking stick made in Ireland of rosewood. The walking stick belonged to his grandfather, Bernard Berry.

After walking in the parade, McCarthy returned to the official grandstand near Pratt and Light streets to watch the rest of the marching bands, Irish dancers, bagpipers and others perform.

There, he reflected on his long walk, from the Washington Monument, down North Charles Street and east on Pratt Street.

"It was great," McCarthy said. "The thrill is, regardless of the weather, people show up."

One of his favorite parts was "all the friends and people along the walk that surprised me," he said.

Another surprise was the weather. As recently as mid-day Saturday, forecasts called for rain all day Sunday.

But on Sunday morning, the rain stopped and didn't start until shortly after the parade ended.

McCarthy had a ready reason for the break.

"St. Patrick smiles on Baltimore," he said.

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