Barbara Susan McCarthy, 87, died at VNA Hospice House of Vero Beach. She was born May 3, 1928, to Lemuel Amerman Kaercher and Ruby Odney Kaercher of Ortonville, Minnesota.

She graduated from Ortonville High School in 1945 as class valedictorian, and from Carleton College in 1949, with a BA cum laude and distinction in her major, Romance Languages. While at Carleton College, she was elected to Mortar Board, a national honorary society. She served as Indiana Coordinator of Carleton College Alumni Admissions for thirty years for which she received an Exceptional Service Award from Carleton College and the Carleton College Alumni Association in 2004. Memberships include PEO Sisterhood (Chapter W, Indianapolis and Chapter AR, Ft. Pierce, Florida).

She married Harold Charles McCarthy, June 24, 1949, at the Congregational Church in Ortonville, Minnesota. She lived in Northfield, Minnesota, until the summer of 1950 when she moved with her husband to Owatonna, Minnesota. She lived in Richmond, Virginia, from 1957 to 1966 when she moved back to Owatonna for one year. She then lived in Indianapolis, Indiana, from 1967 to 1992 before moving to Port St. Lucie, Florida. She moved to Vero Beach in 2002.

She was preceded in death by her parents and three brothers, Robert Amerman Kaercher, Thomas Lloyd Kaercher, and James David Kaercher. She is survived by her husband of 66 years, Harold Charles McCarthy; son the Reverend David McCarthy PhD. and daughter-in-law the Reverend Joan McCarthy, of Hastings, Nebraska; daughter Susan McCarthy Weiner of Naperville, Illinois, and five grandchildren: Michael Weiner, Elizabeth Weiner, Anne Weiner, Julie McCarthy, and Laura McCarthy.

Church memberships included the Associated Church of Owatonna, Minnesota, First Presbyterian Church of Richmond, Virginia, Second Presbyterian Church of Indianapolis, Indiana, Meridian Street Methodist Church of Indianapolis, Indiana, and First United Methodist Church of Ft. Pierce. She sang in choirs of these churches and also John Knox Presbyterian Church of Indianapolis. She was a member of the Community Church of Vero Beach at the time of her death.

While she considered her family and church to be her main interests, she also had a passion for music, reading and writing, travel and golf.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Music Department of the Community Church of Vero Beach, 1901 23rd Street, Vero Beach, FL 32960.

A guest book may be signed at www.coxgiffordseawinds.com

Services will be held at the Community Church of Vero Beach at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 23, 2015, followed by a reception at the church.