LANNON, Alice: Age 85 yrs. Surrounded by her family, passed peacefully away at the Palliative Care Unit of the Miller Centre on February 28, 2013.
Predeceased by: Husband Michael ( 1989); Parents ( Julia & Tom McCarthy) Sister: Loretta McCarthy, Brother Pat McCarthy & wife Gladys; Brother Tom McCarthy & wife Theresa; Brother Mike McCarthy ; Brother in-law & wife: Fred & Helen Lannon; Sister-in-law & husband: Jeanette & Harold Harner. Nephews: Michael McCarthy, Thomas McCarthy, Brendan McCarthy & niece Irene McCarthy.
She leaves to mourn: 6 children: Daughters & Sons-in law: Jeanette Reavis (Dave); in North Carolina; Pat Rose (Bill) in St. John’s; Michelle "Mickey" Reeves(Dave) in Ottawa; Jackie McGrath (Joseph)Fort McMurray and Sons: Michael Lannon (Australia) and Sean Lannon ( Vancouver) and "adopted" daughter Audrey Rolls (South East Placentia).
10 Grandchildren David Reavis (Erica); Michael Reavis (Doris); Will Reavis ( Miranda); Jimmy Rose ( Sarah ); David Rose ( Stephanie); Aaliy Rose ( Nolan) Joey McGrath; Jennifer Kumar (Kumar); Annalisa Reeves; Benjamin Reeves and 8 Great-grandchildren: Connor; Lannon; Hunter; Morgan; Mariana; Marco; Maeva and Jackson.
Sister-in-law: Anna McCarthy.
39 nephews and nieces:
McCarthy (Tom’s children): Terry, Laura, Adrian, Mary, Barbara, Alice, Joan, Trix, , Kay, Martin, Julian and Colin
McCarthy (Pat’s Children): Loretta, Clayton, Virginia, Ted, Jim, Con, Tim, Carmel and Jackie
McCarthy (Mike’s children): Michael and Karen
Lannons ( Brother-in-law Fred’s children): Clancy, Jim, Don, Sylvia, Wilfred, Clayton, Kevin, Brendan, Freda, Daphne, Keith, and Yvonne
Harners (Sister-in-law-Jeanette’s children): Carol Anne, Stephen, Gail, and Michael
As well as Caregivers : Jane & Shirley and a very large circle of friends and extended family.
Alice was highly respected as one of the province’s storytellers and over the past 25 years has told stories at festivals and special heritage events. She has been interviewed by international folklorists and her storytelling has been documented in a couple of films. Alice credits her gift of storytelling to her grandmother Mary (Strang) McCarthy. Her grandmother retold the stories she had been told by an elderly aunt, who was born in Lawn around 1820. These stories have been passed on orally in our family for about 175 years. In 1991 some of these stories were preserved in a book which Alice co-wrote with her brother Michael McCarthy "Fables, Fairies & Folklore of Nfld." Alice went on to co-author two more books with Mike "Ghost Stories from Newfoundland Folklore and Yuletide Yarns. ". He was a well-known author in his own rite and predeceased her in 2005.
While she had never been further than Grand Falls in the first 62 years of her life, she made up for it in the last 23 years with trips to Australia, Costa Rica, France, Hawaii, Ireland, Italy, Medjugorge, and numerous trips across Canada and to the United States. Every one of these trips created great fodder for her own stories such as "How I Stopped the Trains in Australia". In addition to her storytelling, Alice is known in her community for her caring and generosity which were often demonstrated by a specially made tray of cream puffs or a plate of fudge or caretaking for the sick and elderly.
As well as being Mom and Grandma, she was known to others as "Ao", "Abbo" or Aunt Alice and received the designation of "Grandma Alice the Great" by one of her great-grandchildren. She will be sadly missed but will forever stay alive in our hearts and memories as her stories continue to be retold.
Resting at Maher’s Funeral Home with visitation on Friday, March 1st from 1-4 p.m. and 6-9 p.m; Saturday, March 2nd from 1-4 p.m. and 6-9 p.m.; and Sunday, March 3rd from 2-5 p.m. and 7-9 p.m.
Flowers or donations gratefully accepted. Donations in her memory can be made to the Canadian Cancer Society or the Heart & Stroke Foundation.
Her life will be celebrated with a Funeral Mass to take place on Monday, March 4th at 11:00 a.m. at Our Lady of Angels Roman Catholic Church in Placentia.