Eileen Marie McCarthy Haller

Born December 24, 1946 in New York, died after a long illness February 10, 2023 in Bryn Mawr, PA, aged 76. She is survived by numerous friends and family who remember her grace and beauty, her impeccable taste, and her love and respect for people from all walks of life.

Daughter and first child of Charles and Margaret McCarthy, she grew up in Bay Ridge, NY, surrounded by a large, extended Irish Catholic family. Even through graduate school, she received education from church-related institutions.  After graduating with a BSN from Saint Joseph College in Emmitsburg, MD, founded by Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton (now Mount St Mary's University), she fulfilled her military obligation as a Navy nurse at the Charleston Naval Hospital during the Vietnam War.

After completion of her Naval duty, she returned to the Washington, DC area and began work in nephrology at Georgetown, mastering the then-new field of hemodialysis.  As a resident on his nephrology rotation, Dan (Dr. Daniel George) Haller met Eileen.  In 1976, their first date was to see the opera Otello at the Kennedy Center; she avowed a love of opera (not quite true). Their second date was a picnic at the National Arboretum.  She supplied the Cuban sandwiches, and a common ground was found: good food and cooking.  Each never dated another person again, and they became engaged on her birthday, Christmas Eve 1977.

They married May 13, 1978 at Holy Trinity Church, Georgetown, and would have celebrated their 45 ^th anniversary this year. Not to make baby steps, within the month they moved to their first home in Bethesda, MD, Dan finished his oncology training at Georgetown and started a new job at the National Institutes of Health, and Eileen quit full time work to pursue her MSN at Catholic University. After two years, Dan had a job offer at the University of Pennsylvania in the Cancer Center.  On their first joint trip to Philly, they drove past the airport and the trash piles and gas works near the airport on the Schuylkill; Eileen unsuccessfully suppressed her tears. Nonetheless, they moved to Philly in 1980, settling in Merion. Eileen worked very briefly at the VA, and then worked at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania from 1980 until her retirement in 2012. She held positions in nephrology, surgical nursing, and nursing administration.

Work never fully defined Eileen's life.  She and Dan enjoyed a large group of friends, family and Golden Retrievers. With a group of close-by neighbors in Merion, they founded a so-called Gourmet Club. Meals were never fully planned but were always better than most restaurant meals. Best of all, each of the four couples hosted just once a year, limiting non-cooking chores. Eileen often accompanied Dan on some of his many travels, including Australia, Japan, Paris, Rome, Madrid, Vienna and the Provence. For many years, they took two-week Fall trips to England, typically split into a week in London, with shopping and the theater, and a week in the country, where Eileen atypically tolerated Dan's driving (on the left).

Eileen's latter years were sometimes limited by health issues, but she always took refuge in her home, English murder mysteries, Buddy and Dan. She left life quietly, but not without impact.

She leaves behind her husband, Dan, and Buddy, as well as her late Goldens Paddy, Emma and Teddy.  She also leaves her late parents Charles and Margaret (née Murphy) McCarthy and in-laws, the late George and Hazel (née Both) Haller. She is also survived by her sister Mary McCarthy (Robert MacTurk) and brother Lawrence (Colleen), her sister-in-law Carolyn Haller (the late Richard) as well as nieces and nephews Kate MacTurk (Megan), the late William MacTurk (Lauren), Ciara McCarthy, Nora McCarthy, Erin Atkiss, Kiley Clark (Tom) and Brendan Haller.  There are many other friends and family who mourn her passing.

A Memorial Service will be held Saturday, May 20 ^th at 11am in the Sanctuary of the Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church, 625 Montgomery Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA, followed by a reception at the church.