By Ron Hayes BRINY BREEZES — Not long after Paul and Joan Ruopp
moved to Briny Breezes in 1993, a stranger knocked on their door,
bearing a golf bag and a smile. “I hear you folks are from Ocean
Grove,” Paul McCarthy said. “So are we.” For the next 15 years, the
two Pauls played golf almost every week, both in Florida and New
Jersey. “I’m going to miss him terribly,” Ruopp said. Mr. McCarthy
died peacefully Jan. 19 in Scottsdale, Ariz., after a courageous
battle with brain cancer. He was 85. A resident since 1986, Mr.
McCarthy found time for more than golf. He was affectionately known
as one of “the raisins,” a group of friends who met daily on the
beach to chat and work on their tans. Mr. McCarthy raised the
community’s American flag in memory of his twin brother, Jack, a
U.S. Navy paratrooper killed in October 1944. Mr. McCarthy was also
a veteran of World War II, serving with U.S. Navy in the South
Pacific. “And he was a big blood donor,” said his daughter, Kerry
DeVito. “During his lifetime he donated 34.75 gallons of blood to
the South Florida Blood Banks.” Born in Bradley Beach, N.J., Mr.
McCarthy retired as an executive in an electrical manufacturing
plant. His wife, Claire, passed away in 2005. In addition to Mrs.
DeVito, he is survived by two other daughters, Tara Crewell and
Holly McCarthy; two sons, Edward III and David; and nine
grandchildren. A private Mass was held in Scottsdale on Jan. 22.
Memorial services will be planned in Briny Breezes and Bradley
Beach, N.J., at a later date. The family asks that donations be
made to the Briny Breezes Memorial Fund or the South Florida Blood
Bank.
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