Posted February 19, 2009






By Lou Baldwin
Special to The CS&T

William R. (Bill) McCarney, 86, a longtime advertising manager of The Catholic Standard & Times, died Feb. 5.

He was born in Philadelphia to the late Raymond and Catherine McCarney. After service in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific theater, he joined his father who sold newspaper advertising, particularly for the archdiocesan newspaper, and continued the business after his father’s death.

In 1971, at the invitation of the editor, then Msgr., now Cardinal John P. Foley, he liquidated his firm and became full-time advertising manager for the paper and continued in that capacity until his retirement in 1986.

“Bill was essential to the operation of The Catholic Standard & Times, because we had a cooperative effort among the editorial, advertising and circulation departments,” Cardinal Foley said. “We had many special editions and Bill’s work was essential to getting advertising to support those special issues.”

As a result, The Catholic Standard & Times was always self-supporting and never received a subsidy from the Archdiocese, a characteristic which made the publisher, Cardinal John Krol, very happy.

“I will always be grateful to him for having made my own work so much easier,” Cardinal Foley continued. “I’ll be offering Mass for the repose of his soul and the spiritual comfort of his family. He was very devoted to his family, to the Church and to The Catholic Standard and Times.”

McCarney is survived by his wife of 62 years, the former Gloria M. O’Connell, and their seven children: daughters Corrine Harrison, Cheryl Luke and Carolyn McCarney; sons Christopher, Craig, Clifford and Carter; 10 grandchildren; and his brother, John.

In addition to his love for The Catholic Standard & Times, he was a very active member of St. Rose of Lima Parish, North Wales, and a big film buff with a huge collection of tapes, according to son Christopher. “He was a great guy with friends all over the place. He would talk to everybody. He came to everything we had – swimming, baseball, football, track. He was just a heck of a father,” he said.

A funeral Mass was celebrated Feb. 9 at St. Rose of Lima Church; interment was at St. John Neumann Cemetery, Chalfont.