A Funeral Home That
Makes You Feel at Home
//cdn.lifestorynet.com/obituaries/01d/141751/141751-life-panel.jpg

Timothy Allan McCarthy

May 1, 1959 - November 15, 2022
Brighton, MI

//cdn.lifestorynet.com/obituaries/01d/141751/141751-01.jpg



Visitation

Friday, November 25, 2022
1:00 PM to 8:00 PM EST
Turowski Life Story Funeral Homes
Livonia, West of Middlebelt
30200 Five Mile Rd.
Livonia, MI 48154
(734) 525-9020
Driving Directions

Service

Saturday, November 26, 2022
1:00 PM EST
Turowski Life Story Funeral Homes
Livonia, West of Middlebelt
30200 Five Mile Rd.
Livonia, MI 48154
(734) 525-9020

Additional Visitation starting at 12 noon.

Driving Directions

Contributions


At the family's request memorial contributions are to be made to those listed below. Please forward payment directly to the memorial of your choice.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
262 Danny Thomas Place
Memphis, TN 38105
(901) 595-3300

Timothy was a recipient of a St. Jude heart valve in 1986, therefore the family requests donations be directed to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Web Site

Life Story / Obituary


//cdn.lifestorynet.com/fh/view-life-story-video.jpg//cdn.lifestorynet.com/obituaries/01d/141751/141751-02.jpg//cdn.lifestorynet.com/obituaries/01d/141751/141751-03.jpg//cdn.lifestorynet.com/obituaries/01d/141751/141751-04.jpg//cdn.lifestorynet.com/obituaries/01d/141751/141751-05.jpg//cdn.lifestorynet.com/fh/download-memory-folder.jpg
Print

Tim McCarthy was a deeply devoted and driven person. He was genuine as well as generous with his time and resources for anyone in need. He was always willing to support his family and other loved ones. Tim’s witty humor brought lightness, joy, and laughter to every gathering. Deeply loved, Tim will forever be missed by his family and friends.

Richard and Irene McCarthy were pleased to announce the arrival of their second child, Timothy Allan, on May 1, 1959, in Detroit, Michigan. Joining his older sister, Susan, his birth brought his parents great joy and happiness. Tim's infancy and childhood had a precarious start. At just six weeks old, he went into congestive heart failure due to a defective aortic valve. During these times in the early 60s and 70s, there wasn’t the technology available for advanced pediatric cardiac surgery, so his heart remained fragile until he was in his late teen years. To his credit, Tim never let his condition dampen his spirit and enthusiasm for adventure. As a matter of fact, one of his great boyhood joys was the banana seat bike he won in a contest. He would race it around the block or harness it to the family dog, Napoleon, who would drag him around the neighborhood! Tim also loved his matchbox cars and would race them on the orange loop tracks in the hallway. This was probably the start of his love for cars and speed.

Despite being intelligent, he was never really keen on school. He preferred working with his hands. In the winter months, he would build an ice rink in the backyard. Tim absolutely loved the outdoors. His love for being in nature probably started when the family would visit Uncle Don and Aunt Mary at their cottage at Big Bear Lake. The kids enjoyed taking the rowboat to the marshy bog at one end of the lake and tramping around. They learned to waterski during those summers. This love of the outdoors continued with the purchase of the McCarthy lake lot. They treasured the years they would go there to fish and play around in the gravel pit and sit around a campfire.

During his kindergarten year, he met Joe Jackman. The two of them remained lifelong friends. They also hung around with Jim Fredrickson during their years in Boy Scouts at St. Sabina. Troop #: 1198 was a special bunch. In Boy Scouts, Tim learned many valuable skills that he utilized for the remainder of his life. One notable ability was his fire building prowess. At the age of fourteen, Tim took an interest in playing golf. He would play with his dad, Richard who moonlighted at ProGolf when not working at Chrysler. Tim especially enjoyed the discount! Both Tim and Joe worked at ProGolf along with his cousin, Michael Ochylski. Tim’s career in golf sales was short-lived. However, Joe continued to work in the industry for many years.

Along with golf, Tim took an interest in automobiles. He was a Mopar man and loved cruising as well as racing on “The Graph” in his forest green Charger with lime green stripes. Everyone in town knew that car! If not racing his cars, he and his close buddies, Joe and Jim, were helping one another work on them. He spent countless hours tearing apart engines and putting them back together. With his buddies, Tim enjoyed their time out in the woods on the motorcycle trails together. Whenever they were together, they were having a good time!

Tim graduated from Bishop Borgess High School in 1977. After high school, he worked in a sheet metal fabrication shop gaining a lot of experience with machinery and tooling. After a few years, he hung up his tool belt for a while and used the money that he had been saving to realize his dream. Tim opened a photo finishing lab, Ultimate Photo, in Canton in October 1983. He later hired Mike Doering to work at the shop giving him some time off. Over the years, Tim and Mike grew the business and their friendship.

While enjoying life with his friends, unbeknownst to Tim, he would meet the Love of his Life in the summer of 1982. Sharon would change the course of his life forever! At the time of their meeting, Tim and his buddy Bill Behr were coaching girls’ softball in Dearborn Heights. When the opponents hadn't shown up, Tim and Bill asked Sharon's team, who had just finished a game, if they would like to play. Sharon and her teammates agreed. Tim loved to tell folks the first thing he ever said to Sharon was, “What is your favorite position?” with a mischievous grin. Sharon naively said “Second base!” Little did she know that she would be subjected to his smart-aleck wit for years to come. Their very first date was at the beach on Friday the 13th. The location was intentional because Tim wanted to see Sharon in a bikini. This is when Sharon also noted Tim's heart surgery scars, which sparked a deep conversation about Tim's health issues. Shortly after they started dating, tragedy struck. Tim’s father, Richard passed away from a massive heart attack at the age of fifty-five. This tragedy only brought the two of them closer. After he romantically proposed at the top of the CN Tower in Toronto, the happy couple married ten months later on August 17th, 1985. Joe Jackman was his best man, and Jim Fredrickson and Bill Behr were groomsmen.

Their early married bliss was interrupted just six months later when Tim had to undergo his second open-heart surgery. His aortic valve was replaced with a state-of-the-art mechanical St. Jude’s valve. The surgery was successful, but Tim would have to monitor his blood levels and take blood thinners for the rest of his life. They celebrated his release from the hospital every St. Patrick’s Day for his "re-birthday". They started their married life in Redford Township on Dixie Lane. His best man, Joe, bought a home just a mile away. In 1988, they purchased their first family home in Farmington Hills. Joe then bought his family home just across the main street! Tim and Sharon welcomed home two boys, Andrew, and Sean. Coincidentally, Joe and his wife also welcomed two boys during the same time period! The two families made many special memories together celebrating birthdays and holidays.

Sharon and Tim wanted the best for their boys. They arranged their work lives so that the boys didn’t have to attend daycare. Tim had no issue stepping out of the norm and being Mr. Mom during the day while Sharon worked as an electrical engineer at Ford Motor Company. What started as a daily duty of feeding the family quickly grew into a passion. Tim enjoyed trying new recipes and recreating classics and even smoking his own meats on his pellet grill. His meals were always a hit! Tim felt lucky to have the flexibility of owning his own business so he could adjust his schedule to the family's needs. He went to night school to obtain his builder’s license so that he could build their dream home in Brighton. Tim was proud to be the general contractor for the yearlong project. During the building process, Tim thought it was important for the boys to get acclimated to their new school district, so he drove over thirty minutes from Farmington Hills to Brighton to drop the boys off at school! There wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for his kids.

Tim built his photo finishing lab in the basement of the new home and Mike continued to work with him. Sadly, the photo finishing business didn't survive the recession in 2008. Therefore, at the age of 50, Tim decided to close his business and look for work on the outside. Intimated to restart a career this late in life, Tim started at General Mill Supply as a machine operator for paper recycling. Due to his hardworking attitude and mechanical aptitude, Stuart and Bob Rotenberg, the owners, asked Tim to work in many areas of the company. Mike Doering also joined the General Mill crew. Tim eventually went from plant floor worker to plant manager in a short 3 1/2 years. He continued to improve the production and efficiency of the business alongside Josh Rotenberg. Much like he and Mike, Josh and Tim became good colleagues and friends. Tim was proud to remain as plant manager for the rest of his working life.

In addition to being happily married, building a family home, and being a role model to his boys, Tim’s greatest accomplishment was purchasing a cabin Kalkaska in 2019. The purchase of this cabin fostered many precious family weekends. For Tim, the main selling point for the cabin was its location in the heart of many ORV trails. Tim and the guys could now hit the trails quickly and not have to worry about trailering the toys from home. Recently, he sprained his ankle and the reality of recovering at his age was not as quick as in his younger days. So, he decided to trade in two wheels for four. He sold his beloved KTM motorcycle and migrated to UTVs and ATVs. He was proud to have purchased a brand-new side-by-side as all of his previous ORV toys were used. This final purchase allowed the whole family to ride the trails together. Tim had just finished the foundation plot for his new toy shed which was just delivered less than a month ago.

Tim lived his life to the fullest, never taking a single moment for granted. He had a unique way of making people feel loved and valued. He had a good-natured personality and modeled a strong work ethic. May his family always cherish the many memories they shared together including his quick wit and sarcasm. These special moments will live on eternally.

Timothy Allan McCarthy of Brighton, MI passed away unexpectedly on November 15, 2022, at the age of 63. He was the beloved husband of Sharon for 37 wonderful years; devoted father of Andrew (Summer Demeuse) McCarthy and Sean (Sean Kirkpatrick) McCarthy; dearest brother of Susan (Paul) Chen; brother-in-law of the late, Marty (Jayne) Baldwin, Bob Baldwin, and Jackie (Tom) Chance. Timothy is also survived by nieces, nephews, and many cousins. He will also be missed by his faithful dog, Rocky. He was predeceased by his parents.

//cdn.lifestorynet.com/fh/view-life-story-video.jpg//cdn.lifestorynet.com/obituaries/01d/141751/141751-02.jpg//cdn.lifestorynet.com/obituaries/01d/141751/141751-03.jpg//cdn.lifestorynet.com/obituaries/01d/141751/141751-04.jpg//cdn.lifestorynet.com/obituaries/01d/141751/141751-05.jpg//cdn.lifestorynet.com/fh/download-memory-folder.jpg