Catherine F. “Kay” Carey was a familiar face to regular visitors at the President’s Office. (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)
Obituaries: ‘Kay’ Carey; Mary Daly; William McClurg
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The 2009-10 semester break saw the death of three retired members of the Boston College community:Catherine F. “Kay” Carey, a well-known and equally well-liked receptionist who for 14 years was the face — and the voice — of the University President’s Office, died on Dec. 28. She was 78.
Mrs. Carey worked in the President’s Office as a receptionist and secretary from 1986 until her retirement from the University in 1999. Even after she retired, Mrs. Carey would return to the President’s Office to fill in during staff vacations.
“Whether you were a parent, a trustee or a delivery person, she made everyone feel welcome,” said Rose Mary Donahue, assistant to the president, at the time of Mrs. Carey’s retirement. “She is an extraordinary worker and a wonderful person.”
Mrs. Carey, who made her home in West Roxbury for many years, leaves her husband, John; two daughters, Marilyn and Janet, both of West Roxbury; and a son, Brian, of Boston.
University Chancellor J. Donald Monan, SJ, celebrated a funeral Mass for Mrs. Carey at St. Theresa of Avila Church in West Roxbury on Dec. 31. Interment was in St. Joseph Cemetery.
Donations in Mrs. Carey’s memory may be made to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, 10 Brookline Place West, 6th Floor, Brookline, Mass. 02445.
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Mary Daly, a widely read radical feminist theologian whose often stormy 33-year relationship with Boston College ended with her retirement in 1999, died Jan. 3 at age 81.
“Mary Daly defined the outer limits of radical feminist theology and, throughout her life, remained remarkably consistent in maintaining and embodying her positions,” said Professor Emeritus Robert Daly, SJ (no relation), who served as Theology Department chairman from 1973-88.
“I was reading Mary Daly before I came to BC in 1978, and I’m still reading her: She made me think hard about the philosophical and physical violence of a patriarchal world but she also, in our conversations from the 1980s to the new millennium, kept her strongest focus on the sources of energy and the reasons for hope that exist in our changing world,” said English Professor Judith Wilt, holder of the Newton College Alumnae Chair in Western Culture.
“I’ll miss her merriment as much as her battling radical feminism.” Dr. Daly, one of the first women to train as a Roman Catholic theologian, joined the BC Theology Department in 1966 and two years later published The Church and the Second Sex, which criticized the Catholic Church’s relationship with women. That book — along with Beyond God the Father: Toward a Philosophy of Women’s Liberation, which followed in 1973 — helped establish her as a major figure in radical feminist theology.
Many commentators and readers also were struck by her use of language, which featured inventive turns of phrase, spelling and capitalization.
Dr. Daly’s work drew praise from feminist leader and Ms. magazine founder Gloria Steinem and Boston Globe writer James Carroll, among others.
Dr. Daly’s later years at Boston College were marked by a much-publicized controversy surrounding her refusal to admit male students into her classes. Dr. Daly defended her position on the grounds that the presence of males inhibited class discussion, which put her at odds with both University policy and Title IX of federal law.
After refusing to admit a male student into her class in 1998, University administrators confronted Dr. Daly, who opted to retire rather than allow males into her class.
Months later, however, Dr. Daly reneged on her decision and brought suit against the University. After her request for a preliminary
injunction against BC was denied in May of 1999, the parties settled.
Dr. Daly’s ashes are to be buried in Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, and a memorial service is planned for this spring in the Boston area.
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William D. McClurg, who served as a security officer, patrol officer and sergeant during his 26-year career with the Boston College Police Department, died on Dec. 26. He was 78.
Sgt. McClurg, who lived in Malden at the time of his death, joined BCPD as a security officer in 1971 and in 1977 was appointed to the
patrol force. He was promoted to sergeant in 1980, a rank he held until his retirement in 1997.
Sgt. McClurg, a native of Sewickley, Pa., served in both the US Army and Navy before his employment at Boston College. He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Elizabeth “Betty” McClurg; sons Steven of Brighton — who works in the University’s Facilities Services division — and Darren of Cambridge; a stepson, Robert Horton of Malden; two daughters, Linda Lau of Cambridge and Carol Johnson of Brockton; and four grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at a later date.