On Oct. 23rd, 2021, Adah Elliott McCarthy, daughter of Howard J. Elliott and Eva M. (Lapham) Elliott of Plattsburgh, N.Y., was finally able to go back to the Cannata Lodge to dance and sing on top of the piano again. She may have been 89 years old, but she was eternally youthful and glowed with a radiance that belied her age.
Adah was born on St. Patrick's Day (a day she adored, being the proud Frenchman that she was) on March 17, 1932, in Plattsburgh, N.Y. She graduated from Plattsburgh High School in 1951, where she was deservedly considered the most beautiful girl in school. She was fierce and unafraid, driving (and winning!) stock car races and flying planes. Her greatest adventure, however, was marriage and motherhood. She married New York State Trooper James T. McCarthy of Watertown, N.Y., when he was stationed in the area. He saw her descending the courthouse steps and knew immediately... he was going to marry this gorgeous girl! She saw him directing traffic and thought to herself "Wow, that Trooper has some skinny legs!" Four kids and multiple grandchildren and great-grandchildren later, she has remained a legendary matriarch...devoting her entire life to loving (and fretting over) her family.
Adah is survived, loved and fiercely missed by her devoted family: daughter Pamela McCarthy DeMarco and her husband Joseph DeMarco and their daughters Angela DeMarco Molano and Gina DeMarco Olivencia, all of Clifton Park, N.Y.; son Timothy H. McCarthy and his wife Laura Siddons McCarthy and their son Devlin McCarthy and Lea Breslauer McCarthy, all of Lacona, N.Y.; daughter Pattiann McCarthy and her daughters Marisha Harmon of Plattsburgh, N.Y., and Janessa Harmon Cook of Georgetown, Colo., and son Elliott J. Harmon, of Plattsburgh, N.Y.; and daughter Paula J. McCarthy and her husband Kenneth S. Perry of Cadyville, N.Y., and her children Bianca Diaz of Brewster, N.Y., and son Hector L. Carrasco of Aurora, Colo. Also her brother-in-law John McCarthy of Watertown, N.Y., brother-in-law Joseph McCarthy and his wife Josephine, of Watertown, N.Y., sister-in-law Bobbie McCarthy of Geneva, N.Y., and several beloved nieces,nephews, and cousins.
She is also survived by her beloved great-grandchildren: Navarah D. Harmon of Morrisonville, N.Y.; Ulysses, Rowan, and Bronwyn McCarthy of Lacona, N.Y.; Travis and Holden Harper of Clifton Park, N.Y.; Valentina Olivencia of Clifton Park, N.Y.; KaHari Cummings of Plattsburgh, N.Y.; and Elldric Harmon of Plattsburgh, N.Y.
She is predeceased by her parents, Howard J. and Eva Elliott; her husband, retired NYSP Troop B captain and former Clinton County Undersheriff James T. McCarthy; her brother-in-law Alfred McCarthy, originally of Watertown, N.Y.; sister-in-law Nancy McCarthy of Watertown, N.Y., and nephews Michael and Danny McCarthy of Watertown, N.Y.
Donations in her name can be made to Elmore SPCA in Peru, N.Y.