2007.07.18: July 18, 2007: Headlines: COS - Thailand: Country directors - Thailand: Obituaries: : Obituary for Thailand Country Director John C. McCarthy

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Thailand: Peace Corps Thailand: Peace Corps Thailand: Newest Stories: 2007.07.18: July 18, 2007: Headlines: COS - Thailand: Country directors - Thailand: Obituaries: : Obituary for Thailand Country Director John C. McCarthy

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Obituary for Thailand Country Director John C. McCarthy

Obituary for Thailand Country Director John C. McCarthy

His legal career was interrupted in 1963 when McCarthy, inspired by the call to service in President Kennedy's inaugural address, became director of the Peace Corps in Thailand, where he supervised about 600 volunteers over a three-year period. His arrival in Bangkok coincided with the early stages of the Vietnam War, and the war colored his time in Thailand from the beginning, Lori McCarthy remembered. Students and staff of a Vietnamese private school had fled the country due to the warfare; one of McCarthy's first assignments was to give the commencement address to the school's graduating class. "That was my first inkling that the situation in Vietnam was becoming life-threatening to people," Lori McCarthy said.

Obituary for Thailand Country Director John C. McCarthy

Noted attorney dies at age 83

By Will Bigham, Staff Writer

Article Launched: 07/18/2007 11:56:17 PM PDT

CLAREMONT - John C. McCarthy, a noted trial attorney, World War II veteran and director of the Peace Corps in Thailand during the early years of the Vietnam War, has died. He was 83.

McCarthy, a Claremont resident for 51 years, died June 27 at home. He had been battling melanoma for about a year, said his wife, Lori McCarthy.

For most of his life, McCarthy's passion was the law, and during his career as an attorney he argued several cases before the California Supreme Court. The most famous was Friends of Mammoth v. Mono County, a landmark case that in 1972 significantly altered the environmental review rules for private development in the state.

"He was very disciplined, and very much a perfectionist," said Lori McCarthy, 76. "If you hired him, you were very happy to have him on your team, because he would give it his all. He would wake up at 3 o'clock in the morning and begin working on your case."

John McCarthy was born Nov. 14, 1923, in Chicago, and was raised in Rockford, Ill. He lived there until he was 17 and left for college at Miami University of Ohio.

After finishing his first year, World War II began, and McCarthy joined the Navy and became radar officer on the USS Taylor.
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McCarthy was sent to the Pacific theater and was on hand for some of the war's historic moments. His ship was one of the first to enter Tokyo Bay after the Japanese emperor agreed to a surrender. The sailors were worried that word of the surrender may not have spread throughout the country.

"They were not sure they would obey the emperor - but indeed they did," Lori McCarthy said. "They obeyed the emperor and laid down their weapons."

McCarthy was also on the USS Missouri when Japanese officials came onboard to sign the terms of surrender. It was his job to supervise Japanese news reporters who were on the ship to cover the event, Lori McCarthy said.

When the war ended, McCarthy moved to Los Angeles. He continued his undergraduate studies at USC, and was part of the UCLA School of Law's first graduating class in 1952.

He met Lori at a picnic in Orange County in 1959. They married in 1960.

His legal career was interrupted in 1963 when McCarthy, inspired by the call to service in President Kennedy's inaugural address, became director of the Peace Corps in Thailand, where he supervised about 600 volunteers over a three-year period.

His arrival in Bangkok coincided with the early stages of the Vietnam War, and the war colored his time in Thailand from the beginning, Lori McCarthy remembered.

Students and staff of a Vietnamese private school had fled the country due to the warfare; one of McCarthy's first assignments was to give the commencement address to the school's graduating class.

"That was my first inkling that the situation in Vietnam was becoming life-threatening to people," Lori McCarthy said.

McCarthy practiced several different types of law during his long career, focusing later in life on wrongful termination and insurance law in his Claremont practice in the 1980s.

Jim Stoneman, a former law partner and close friend of McCarthy, said McCarthy was most well-known for two cases - the Mono County case, and a Las Vegas wrongful termination case.

In the Mono County case, McCarthy was hired by the preservation group Friends of Mammoth to prevent a seven-story condominium from being built at the base of one of the ski area's most famous peaks, Stoneman said.

McCarthy prevented the development, and in the process the California Supreme Court ruled that the California Environmental Quality Act applied to private development - not just public projects as previously interpreted.

The ruling expanded significantly the number of developments subject to environmental impact reports, a step in the development process that all large developments must go through.

"Before that, no one believed that EIRs applied to private development, so I don't think you can overstate the importance of that case," Stoneman said.

Later in the 1970s, McCarthy represented a group of 37 blackjack dealers who sued the Hilton Casino in Las Vegas for wrongful termination.

McCarthy won the case, and the $38 million award to the plaintiffs was "the largest civil verdict by a California lawyer that year," Stoneman said. "That was a significant verdict at the time."

McCarthy was also hired by the city of Beverly Hills in the late 1970s when the city was fighting developers who wished to build large projects along the Avenue of the Stars. He successfully fought most of the development, Stoneman said.

"He was universally regarded as an excellent trial and appellate lawyer," Stoneman said. "He wrote several books, which gave him an amount of prominence among attorneys, at least."

After his retirement, McCarthy focused mainly on outdoor activities such as sailing and skiing - a passion that made him one of the best of his age in his later years.

In 2003, at age 79, McCarthy earned a bronze medal at the National Ski Championships in Utah in the downhill competition.

McCarthy is also survived by his son Michael McCarthy of Claremont; and two daughters - Mary McCarthy of Seattle, and Sheila McCarthy of Monrovia.

Instead of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions be made to the Inland Pacific Ballet, 5050 Arrow Highway, Montclair 91763.

Memorial services will be held Saturday at 2 p.m. at Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church in Claremont.

Staff writer Will Bigham can be reached by e-mail at will.bigham@dailybulletin.com, or by phone at (909) 483-8553.




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