Vivien McCarthy, paralegal and psychic

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Vivien McCarthy Vivien McCarthy

Vivien McCarthy, 69, a legal secretary and psychic entertainer, died Dec. 30 of ovarian cancer at her home in Mt. Airy.

Mrs. McCarthy, in addition to working as a legal secretary and paralegal, operated a psychic entertainment business, Psychics Extraordinaire, using the name Vivienne McCarthy. She was a psychic, fortune teller, palmist, numerologist and astrologist who, according to her husband, Kevin, “brought humor and compassion to her readings, leaving her querants feeling inspired and empowered.”

Starting in 1989, she also taught a course “Fortune Telling Made Easy” at the Mt. Airy Learning Tree.

Born Vivien Parnell in Norfolk, England, to Irish parents, she was raised in Dublin, Ireland, until the age of 12, when her family set off for Australia, with an extended stop on the way in Durban, South Africa, before settling in Wollongong, a small town 50 miles south of Sydney. She left Australia for a time and traveled the South Pacific by boat before returning to Sydney, where she met her future husband who was on leave from Army service in Vietnam.

The couple were married in Holy Cross Church in Mt. Airy and lived alternately in Australia and the United States before settling in Mt. Airy. While she liked being Irish and Australian, Mrs. McCarthy adopted the United States as her “spiritual home” and loved Mt. Airy for its diversity and sylvan beauty.

For ten years, she conducted fund-raisers for Green Street Rescue, an agency in the Fairmount section of Philadelphia that cares for homeless cats, and adopted many herself. She was known at “the flower lady of Leamy House” because of her efforts to bring beauty to her home and neighborhood.

She was an avid reader and a collector of art and artifacts from her travels.

In addition to her husband, she is survived by a son, Patrick; a sister, Barbara; brothers Bill and Jeffrey, and one grandson. -WF

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