Eleanor Marie (Soltis) McCarthy
January 10, 2018Share using:
Eleanor McCarthy passed away on January 10, 2018 at Mercy Hospital in Dubuque, Iowa.
Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, January 20th, 2018 at St Columbkilles Catholic Church with Rev. Gabriel Anderson officiating. Interment will follow in Mount Olivet Cemetery. Visitation will be from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Friday, January 19th, 2018 at Leonard Funeral Home & Crematory, 2595 Rockdale Road.
Eleanor was born on May 10, 1929 in Chicago, Illinois to Jack and Victoria Soltis. She was one of four children and loved being the sister of three brothers Ray (Laddie), Dick (Dottie), and Jim (Patty).
Eleanor married the love of her life, William (Bill) McCarthy (deceased) on November 6, 1948 in Chicago. Bill was a close friend of her brother Ray, and when Bill came home from the war looking to reconnect with his friend from the Navy, he found that Ray’s sister had grown up while they were away. They were smitten and the rest is history. They lived in Chicago and started their family and eventually moved to Dubuque in 1966. They never gave up their proud Chicago heritage and were full of Polish and Irish ethnic pride.
They have five children: Daniel (Janet) McCarthy, Maureen Kottman, David (Karen) McCarthy, Donald (Katy) McCarthy, and Maribeth Hughes. And five grandkids: Michael Kottman (Katie), Morgan (Erick) Hutson, Meredith (Jeremy) Mayra, Caroline McCarthy and Natalie McCarthy. In addition, Eleanor presided as Bill’s partner as the matriarch of the extended McCarthy/Soltis clan which includes nephews and nieces, great nephews and nieces, and great-great nephews and nieces.
Eleanor and Bill became very attached to and involved in the Dubuque area community. Eleanor joined Bill representing the Dubuque area chamber of Commerce at various functions and promotional events. They were members of St Columbkilles parish. They thoroughly enjoyed their nearly 50 years living in the Oeth Court neighborhood where they cultivated strong friendships. In recent years, Eleanor moved to Bethany Home where she met many new friends and neighbors. They loved to travel and probably visited every state in the country and made several trips to Europe.
Upon graduation from high school, she took a job with a bank in Chicago before starting their family. Originally moving to Dubuque with her husband when he took a regional manager’s position with Keebler Cookies, she started her own career as a bookkeeper and then office manager with the Kraft Butter Company operations in Dubuque.
She then worked with Bill for many years in the kitchen and bathroom remodeling business and eventually helped him start their own business. Their last business venture of nearly 30 years was B&E Brochure Services, which filled a unique niche in the pre-Internet world of promoting tourism to the region, connecting visitors and the area’s attractions. Eleanor and Bill retired from the business in 2014.
In her later years, she was a regular customer at Capri Beauty School where she had her hair done every Friday and encouraged the students to be the best they could be. She seemed to be one of their favorite customers. And followed that up with a burger at Paul’s with the regulars.
Beside children, she was the proud mother and grandmother to an extended family of dogs that she and Bill had over the years: Peanuts, Sam, Jody and Bailey but also to the many dogs that her kids owned over the years. She took the opportunity to help spoil them but not as much as Bill did. She may have shown off their pictures as much as her kids and grandkids, but one will never know.
Eleanor was all about the importance of family and friends. She was blessed with many opportunities to cultivate these relationships. She was an extremely loving and caring person and will remembered as such by those she leaves behind. She was dedicated to Bill and her family and that was her top priority in life. She told everyone that she had a great life and that we should all strive to live the same way.
