Rev. Donald Wilson McCarty
Rev. Donald Wilson McCarty, a long-time resident of Sitka, completed this life in Nampa, Idaho, on May 3, 2020. He was 84.
Don was born June 25, 1935, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the son of Naomi and Rayburn McCarty.
He is survived by his wife, Kay, whom he married in Albuquerque, in 1955. With their family of three young children Don managed to graduate from Pasadena Nazarene College in California in 1965, becoming the first college graduate in his family. Subsequently he served as pastor of Churches of the Nazarene in Heppner, Oregon, Othello, Washington, and Post Falls, Idaho, before coming to Sitka in January 1982 to serve the church here.
Upon retiring from the Christian ministry in 1988, he became a picture framer and joined his wife, who is an artist, in the successful management of Kay McCarty Gallery.
Besides Kay, of Sitka, he is mourned today by their children, Rick McCarty and Elizabeth of Williamsburg, Virginia; Terrie Rhoads and Steve of Kamiah, Idaho; and Gary McCarty and Connie, of Sitka.
The grandchildren and great-grandchildren are: Max McCarty; Jesse Rhoads and his wife Ashley; Tyler and Jael McCarty, with their daughters Taylor and Hadley; Colby and Jessica McCarty, with their children Avery and Cohen; and Hanna McCarty. Their love for their Grandpa was boundless.
Don passed away serenely on Sunday morning as his grandson, Colby, read a Psalm. With his body debilitated by a sequence of strokes, and his mind increasingly beclouded, he remained ever in good spirits. More than once, and with astonishing clarity, he quoted, “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.”
Services are pending.
