I must first say that for 20 years Fr. McCarthy was aware that he could die at any moment. The doctor warned him to be ready. He accepted the fact calmly and realistically. He could do so because he had a strong faith.
Fr. McCarthy was 74 years of age when he died. He was a teacher of Wah Yan for 41 years of those years. He taught in Wah Yan, Kowloon from 1955 to 1961 and in Wah Yan, Hong Kong from 1949 to 1950 and from 1961 to 1995.
What kind of experiences and characteristics made him the person he was and, especially, what was it that made him particularly suited to be a teacher?
Fr. McCarthy came from a very large family. There were 11 children in the family. If you have a lot of brothers and sisters then you have to learn two things. You have to learn to be tolerant and cooperative and you have to learn to stand up for yourself. Fr. McCarthy’s mother was a short, round, cheerful person. He had a great affection for her. She had to be a fine woman to bring up eleven children in the depression years of the 1920’s and 1930’s.
Fr. McCarthy was a very keen football player. He played Ruby football. It is a tough game. He played for his school; but he also played for a junior club outside school. That is saying a lot. Junior club ruby in Fr. McCarty’s native city (which is mine also) was a fearful experience. Many of the games were a battle from beginning to end. I saw a player, sent off by the referee for fighting, challenging the spectators, who booed him, to a fight after the match. Fr. McCarthy didn’t live out his early days in a glass house or in an ivory tower but in the rough and tumble of the sporting world.
Fr. McCarthy was an active Boy Scout. He was a member of the St. John’s Ambulance Brigade. He was an Altar Server for many years. So Fr. McCarthy was a lively, outgoing person from the beginning.
I didn’t live with Fr. McCarthy during the best years of his teaching life. I was told he was an excellent mathematics teacher who made a great contribution here in Wah Yan and also in the wider Mathematics field of Hong Kong.
He was an excellent English teacher. In his teaching Fr. McCarthy was much helped by a great gift that he had. Fr. McCarthy was an actor, a born and well practiced actor. He did a lot of acting on the stage and a lot of acting in daily life. You see a teacher has to be a bit of an actor. A teacher has to be able to put on a good show, to be confident even when he or she is not so confident. Fr. McCarthy could do that and he could grab your attention and he could hold it.
Our new Financial Secretary, Mr. Donald Tsang, wrote to me to sympathise with us on the death of Fr. McCarthy. He told me of how much he owed to Fr. McCarthy as teacher, spiritual guide and friend. He remarked that, as a teacher, he could be dramatic. He told me once that Fr. McCarthy terrorised him into learning English. On one occasion Fr. McCarthy said to him, “Donald Tsang, if you make another mistake like that, I’ll put your composition on the floor and I’ll dance on it.” I’m 99.9999% sure Fr. McCarthy wouldn’t do that; but only 99.999% sure. There was a 0.00001% chance he just might do it. That is why it’s a great help to be a good actor if you are a teacher!
Fr. McCarthy was very musical. He had a lovely singing voice. He listened to a lot of music of all kinds. He didn’t particularly care for modern and dancing, but he recognised and admired skill and often praised students’ singing and dancing.
Fr. McCarthy had a fantastic memory. He could recite dozens of speeches from Shakespeare’s plays and other plays. He knew by heart poems, songs and in English, Irish and Latin. He could imitate the street traders’ calls from Guangzhou. He could say “Good Morning” in 17 different languages to his classes. At dinners or social occasions he was full of jokes and good humour.
He had an enormous vocabulary, thanks to his regular habit of doing X word puzzles. He never gave up a puzzle until it was finished. He built up a top class collation of stamp and First Day Covers which made him a very good adviser to the Philatelic Club.
Very wisely for a teacher he had one or two major interests outside the school. For sixteen years he worked closely with the English speaking children and their parents who attended St. Joseph’s Church. They loved him very much because he loved them and helped them as a priest and as a friend. He also met a group of friends regularly to read and discuss books, plays and poems. He enjoyed a good meal and a good drink.
Fr. McCarthy had strong opinions. He had a sceptical mind, I think, and didn’t put up easily with what he considered nonsense. He could be a bit fiery. He reminded me of the trucks you see carrying inflammable materials. On them is written “Category Five – Dangerous Goods”. They almost never blow up, but it is better not to crash into them or light a match near them. In his later years, Fr. McCarthy had mellowed down to about Category 3, but still it was unwise to take unnecessary risks with him.
Fr. McCarthy begged to be given is usual six classes this year, even though he was in poor health. I wasn’t keen, but I got a phone call from our superior, Fr. Lo. He said, “Please try to give Dick (Fr. McCarthy) some classes. He really wants them. Mr. P.T. Chan managed to give him some by taking one or two, here and there, from some of the teachers. He taught classes until the day he went to hospital for the last time. After 41 years of teaching!
In Fr. McCarthy we had an exuberant, colourful person and teacher. We thank God for giving him to us and we ask God to forgive him the human sins and failings he shared with us. We hope we will meet him again in heaven. I’m sure he will be a jolly companion. Actually, he was a serious man, but not a sad man, so he would like us to be cheerful as we pray for him. Finally, I hope he will forgive me for going over the five minutes he loudly and repeatedly claimed was the absolute limit for a sermon or homily.