Retired New York Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, a former nurse whose experience with tragedy propelled her to become one of Congress’ most prominent gun control advocates, has died at the age of 81.
The news was first reported Thursday by Newsday, a Long Island-based newspaper. Local New York media outlets did not immediately list a cause of death. McCarthy represented her southern Nassau County district in the House for nine terms. She retired from Congress in 2015, less than two years after she announced that she had been diagnosed with lung cancer.
Born into a blue-collar Brooklyn household, McCarthy moved to Long Island when she was 8. In high school, her boyfriend was in a serious car accident; the private-duty nurse who cared for him before he died of his injuries inspired her to apply to nursing school, she once told Good Housekeeping magazine. McCarthy monitored terminally ill patients for 30 years.
