Matthew Thomas McCarthy

Matthew Thomas McCarthy, 72, of San Benito, Texas, passed away on Wednesday, January 22, 2025, at Harlingen Medical Center. He is preceded in death by his father (James Anthony McCarthy) and mother (Anna Marie Cholick McCarthy), and is survived by his loving wife of 48 years, Denise Dusek McCarthy and their three daughters: Heather (Trey) Aley of Victoria, Texas, Lynann (Lance) Schmidt of Taft, Texas, and Dr. Whitney McCarthy (Matthew Landers) of San Antonio, Texas. He is also survived by six grandchildren: Tristan (Isabel) Spratlin, Riley Spratlin, Patrick Spratlin, Wyatt Spratlin, Landen Schmidt, and Levi Schmidt. 

Matthew grew up in Rio Hondo, Texas and was a 1970 graduate of Rio Hondo High School. He earned a pilot’s license at Southwest Texas Junior College in Uvalde, Texas, before returning home to run the family farm for approximately 30 years. He then worked for the Federal Grain Inspection Service and the United States Department of Agriculture for the remainder of his career, retiring in 2022. He served as a Rio Hondo Independent School District School Board Trustee for six years and devoted thirty-six years to a position on the Board of Directors of the Cameron County Drainage District No. 3. Throughout his life, he demonstrated a remarkable work ethic and resilience that inspired everyone around him, even in the face of difficult circumstances.

Matthew was an aviation enthusiast, avid reader, and music lover who loved to make everyone laugh with his incomparable sense of humor. He also enjoyed barbequing and spending time with family and his dachshund Gizmo on the back patio of the home he shared with Denise. He was a perpetual font of knowledge and wisdom, dispensing practical advice for everything from fixing a leaky sink to handling the complexities of various interpersonal relationships. He will be dearly missed by all who knew and loved him.

A private family gathering of remembrance will be held. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to a charitable organization of your choice.