Mary Elizabeth Carney ofLake Forest,Ill., a recipient of the University of Notre Dames Laetare Medal, died Sunday.
A Notre Dame benefactor and the wife of Thomas P. Carney, 1937 Notre Dame alumnus and chairman emeritus of the University of Notre Dames Board of Trustees, Mrs. Carney, a native ofIndianapolis, had suffered a stroke three years ago.
In addition to her contributions to the University, Mrs. Carney was active in numerous community service organizations.She served as president of the Saint Marys Mothers Club, of the League of Women Voters of Lake Forest, the Lake County League, the Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Community Associates of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Lake Bluff Garden Club.She also served as secretary of the Lake Forest Caucus and as a member of the Gordon Community Center Board.The Carneys were awarded Notre Dames highest honor, the Laetare Medal, in 1986.
Mary E. McGuire and Thomas P. Carney were marriedOct. 3, 1942, and years later she confessed that she could not imagine not being married to him.In a 1991 Chicago Tribune article, the late Msgr. Jack Egan, a friend of the Carneys, spoke of the couples conspicuous love after half a century of marriage.I always felt (Thomas) treated her as a beautiful woman he was courting and hoped he would be able to marry,he said.That gentle consideration for her, as if Tom didnt have any task more important than being her husband.
Survivors include her husband and four children, all Notre Dame graduates, Thomas Jr., (67) of Lake Forest, Ill.; Sheila Hopkins (74) of Hingham, Mass; James (75) of Brooklyn Park, Minn; and Janet OBrien (77) of Glenview, Ill.
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