I was sorry to learn of the passing of Kathleen Unti (McCarty). She was my first 1st cousin, the first person to respond to the emails I had sent out as part of my quest to find my biological family on Ancestry.com. It must have been strange to hear from someone no one even knew existed; however, she took the time to call and identify herself, first speaking to my wife and then to me. 

She asked my wife if I was tall, since it appears that all of the McCarty’s, with few exceptions, could form their own NBA league. While being on the short side (6 feet) I guess I qualified to be a McCarty and not a Brinker, who apparently are the vertically challenged side of the family. 

When we first spoke, I told her that Ancestry had identified us as first cousins, which to me was quite significant. She on the other hand stated that, “That’s nothing, I have 60 first cousins!”, to which I quickly responded well I guess I’m #61! After doing some research on her end, she agreed that I was indeed part of the McCarty clan. She then passed on my information to Kathlene B. and her husband Jerry McCarty who also welcomed me into the clan, which lead to my expansion of cousins and Facebook friends including Kelly, a.k.a Brad Savage, McCarty the communications officer and editor of the McCarty Metro. From that point on my contact with Kathleen was via Facebook and short emails. We agreed that we should get together to formally meet, but life got in the way. But, thanks to her I’ve found a wonderful family of the most fun and talented people I know and live vicariously through them, thanks to the McCarty Metro. I will however always regret not having met her to thank her for all she did, not only for me and for others and I’m sure that we’ll toast the McCarty clan in heaven where I’m sure she has a front row seat.

-Gene Skladnowski a.k.a. McCarty