Obituary

Mary Ann Risch
(August 20, 1931 - August 26, 2019)

Mary Ann McCarthy Risch, 88, passed away peacefully August 26, 2019 in the health care unit of Woodlands Retirement Community. She was born August 20, 1931, in Indianapolis, Indiana,  a daughter of the late Daniel Francis and Ellen Pierce McCarthy. She graduated from St. Mary’s Academy, Indianapolis in 1949 and worked as a secretary and stenographer. She married James J. Risch, who preceded her in death, on October 22, 1955. She was a 53-year member Our Lady of Fatima Parish, where she was an avid volunteer for both the church and school. She and her husband moved to Woodlands Retirement Community in 2004, where she was active in the book club and volunteered in the Estill Pennington Card Shop.Besides her parents and husband,  she was preceded in death by two sisters, Therese McCarthy Maxwell and Kathleen McCarthy Turk. Survivors include her daughter, Ellen Risch Vance and husband Darryl, of Charleston; her son, Joseph  R. Risch and wife Christy of Huntington; four grandsons, Will Vance and fiancée Taylor Stuck of Milton, Patrick Vance of Charleston, Sebastian Risch and Torin Risch of Huntington, and one brother, Dan McCarthy and wife Mary, of Indianapolis. The family would like to give special thanks to the staff and caregivers at Woodlands Retirement Community for their love and kindness.Visitation will be Thursday, August 29 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Klingel-Carpenter Mortuary, 328 Sixth Ave., Huntington. Mass of Christian Burial will be at Our Lady of Fatima Church,  535 Norway Avenue, Huntington, with Fr. Paul Yeunger and Msgr. Lawrence Luciana officiating. Interment will be in Spring Hill Cemetery, immediately followed by a Celebration of Life in the Hampton Room at Woodlands Retirement Community.In lieu of flowers, expressions of sympathy may be made to Our Lady of Fatima School Scholarship Fund, 535 Norway Ave., Huntington, WV 25705 or Woodlands Benevolence Fund, 1 Bradley Foster Drive, Huntington, WV 25701.