UPDATE: Automobile Industry Loses a Leader: Frank E. McCarthy

    WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 Frank E. McCarthy, president of the
National Automobile Dealers Association, passed away February 25 at the
Washington Hospital Center from complications in his battle with kidney
cancer.  He was 66.
    (Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20010226/DCM043 )
    "The automobile industry has lost a true leader," said NADA Chairman
Robert J. Maguire.
    McCarthy was chief executive of NADA since 1968, serving as a steadfast
advocate of dealer interests before the government and automobile
manufacturers for more than three decades.
    He was presented the International Freedom of Mobility Award in a special
tribute at the 2001 NADA Convention in Las Vegas earlier this month.  When
presenting the award, past NADA Chairman Harold B. Wells said McCarthy was
"the man who has done more for America's franchised dealers than anyone in
history."
    McCarthy received the Distinguished Service Citation from the Automotive
Hall of Fame in 1987 and in 1998 was named Association Executive of the Year
by Association Trends newspaper.
    Prior to joining NADA, McCarthy was legislative counsel to the Interstate
Commerce Commission and the Rules Committee of the U.S. House of
Representatives.
    McCarthy, born in Indianapolis, Ind., was a graduate of the University of
Notre Dame.  He received a law degree from the Georgetown University School of
Law.
    McCarthy is survived by his wife Patricia, children Kathleen Texido of
Atherton, Calif., Mary Penny, Anne McCarthy, Frank J. McCarthy and Michael
McCarthy, all from the Washington, D.C. area and 12 grandchildren.  He also
leaves sisters Anne Ring of Mundelein, Ill., Mary Catherine English of
Bethesda, Md. and Kathleen Heck of Newtown, Mass., and brothers James McCarthy
of Rockville, Md., Kevin McCarthy of Indianapolis, Ind., Frances Elliott
McCarthy of Summit, N.J., and David McCarthy of Arlington, Va.
    A wake will be held on Thursday, March 1, from 6 to 9 p.m., with a prayer
service at 7:30 p.m., at St. Elizabeth Catholic Church, 917 Montrose Rd.,
Rockville, Md. (at the corner of Montrose and Tildenwood Lane).  A funeral
mass will be held at 10 a.m. on Friday, March 2, also at St. Elizabeth Church.
    In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial donations be made to the
National Automobile Dealers Charitable Foundation, 8400 Westpark Drive,
McLean, Va. 22102, or to the St. Elizabeth Parish School Building Fund, 917
Montrose Rd., Rockville, Md. 20852.