Over 100 people attended a private funeral ceremony Tuesday evening for former U.S. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, one of Congress’ fiercest gun safety advocates, who died June 26.
Among an array of elected officials and close family and friends, former U.S. president Bill Clinton, former U.S. Rep. Peter King, Gov. Kathy Hochul, U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi and North Hempstead City Council Member Robert Troiano were in attendance.
Clinton and Hochul both spoke at the ceremony, thanking her for her service, expressing their love for her, and expressing their awe at how she turned the pain of losing her husband into a run for office.
“I almost don’t need to give a speech. I just love Carolyn McCarthy,” Clinton said, speaking to both the personal and professional relationship they shared. “I knew her before she knew me because I knew her story…And then, there she was running [for Congress], and winning.”
You couldn’t spend any time with her without feeling like she just loved you,” he added.
Hochul’s speech followed a bit later, which she used to recount McCarthy’s impressive legacy in office and memories of how welcoming McCarthy was to her when she was first elected to Congress.
“What do you do with that pain? Most people go the rest of their lives just trying to deal with it, cope with it, manage it, suppress it where you can,” Hochul said, referring to the loss of McCarthy’s husband.“And then there are others like Carolyn, who use that pain and that trauma, that tragedy and turn into a different person…she said ‘I don’t want this to happen to anyone else.’”
“She decided her own elected official didn’t hear her voice and hear her pain. She said, ‘I’m going to run instead,’” Hochul continued. “She didn’t just become one of those members of Congress that just sit there and try to get elected every two years. She made a difference.”
“I believe there are families sitting together tonight all over this country, never knowing a tragedy because of her tenacity and her unwillingness to surrender and because she went to Washington and fought and got laws changed,” Hochul concluded. “She changed laws and she changed lives.”
McCarthy, who called Mineola home for decades, represented the state’s fourth Congressional district from 1997 to 2015. She was motivated to run for office to implement stricter gun control legislation after a December 1993 shooting at the Garden City Merillon Avenue Long Island Rail Road stop killed her husband, Dennis, and severely injured her son, Kevin.
Ironically, given her legacy, Garden City’s Fairchild Sons Funeral Home, where her services were held, was surrounded by heavily armed police officers and at least half a dozen police vehicles.
Other speakers included Father Malcolm J. Burns from Corpus Christi Catholic Church, King, McCarthy’s friends and campaign manager and Ashley Davis, McCarthy’s niece.
“To the world, Aunt Carolyn was a dedicated congresswoman who championed gun control, women’s rights and civil liberties for nearly two decades. To me, she was the Cook family matriarch,” Davis said. “She taught me it’s not only okay but encouraged to add ice cubes to your white wine, that you can never have too many emojis in a text and how to love the Hamptons.”
“Aunt Carolyn taught us all the most powerful lesson: When something gets in your way, you go over, under or through,” Davis said. “The world will miss Aunt Carolyn and all the good she put into it.”
Dozens of McCarthy’s constituents, friends and family left public notes in the funeral home’s online guestbook as a tribute, calling her an iconic warrior, offering their condolences, recounting personal memories and thanking her for representing them well.
“I first made Carolyn’s acquaintance when I was working at what was then Community Hospital at Glen Cove,” wrote Fran Hilliard. “Years later, when learning about the LIRR tragedy, I at first did not realize who Carolyn was, until someone said to me ‘She’s Cookie’! She was a truly remarkable individual, and I so admired her courage and her efforts for gun control.”
“I interned with Congresswoman McCarthy many years ago, and it’s hard to put into words how much that experience meant to me and my family,” wrote Ephraim Pierre. “She didn’t just talk about courage—she lived it. Rest in peace, congresswoman. You made a difference in mine and so many more lives.’
U.S. Rep. Laura Gillen, who currently represents the state’s fourth Congressional district, attended McCarthy’s visitation, which the funeral home held from 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. She led a tribute to McCarthy on the House floor after her death.
“Carolyn was a tireless advocate for the South Shore of Nassau County on Long Island and a fearless champion in the fight against gun violence,” Gillen said. “She also advocated for America’s children as a member of the Education and Workforce Committee. She was also key to drafting the watershed No Child Left Behind Act in 2001, which aimed to make our schools more accessible for students with disabilities.”
“She ran for Congress as a mother, a nurse and a voice for families devastated by the senseless scourge of gun violence,” Gillen said. “Her courage helped shape the national conversation and inspired a generation of advocates.”
McCarthy’s family asked that people donate to New Yorkers Against Gun Violence or Long Island Cares Harry Chapin Food Bank in lieu of leaving flowers at her services.
