Mary Josephine (McCarthy) Brown, age 74, of Wisconsin Dells, WI, passed away at the Hospice House in Baraboo surrounded by her loving family.

A Private Family Service will be held at a later date, officiated by Pastor John Krebs of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Adams, WI.

Mary Jo was born June 3, 1947, in Madison, WI, the daughter of Daniel and Barbara (Latham) McCarthy. She was an active member of the VFW Post # 3513 and the American Legion Post#44 of Scottsdale, AZ for many years where she participated in fundraising and talent shows. Mary Jo enjoyed cooking and shared recipes with family and friends. (She made a perfect prime rib according to her daughter.) She loved to read and was very grateful to the lovely Kilbourn Library librarians who delivered books weekly to her apartment complex. She was a master at crossword puzzles and kept her mind sharp with jigsaw puzzles and word searches. Her memory for dates, places and names was unsurpassed. She looked forward to family gatherings, and while in Arizona she had a close group of dear girlfriends. A highlight of her life was attending the concerts of Elvis Presley, who had a special place in her heart. She and the family were blessed by a caring team of doctors, hospice nurses and aides during her long illness.

Mary Jo is survived by her children, Kimberly Cass, Daniel (Susan) Cass, and Ryan (Danielle) Cass; her stepdaughters, Kathleen (Kent) Dreibelbis of Pennsylvania and Ginger (John) Seredinsky of New York, along with her grandchildren, Nathan and Logan, Kate and Kyle and great-grandchildren, Riley and Cecila; sisters: Kathy McCarthy (Peter Hickethier) of Adams, WI; Pat (Dave) Schultz of Middleton, WI; Val (Mike) Byers of Sun Prairie, WI and Bette (Dyack) Swanson of Madison, WI. She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Bob Brown, and the father of her children, Jimmy Cass as well as her grandparents.