Carole Rose McMahon

Carole Rose (Harnist) McMahon (born March 20, 1935) died peacefully on August 10, 2026, in the Memory Care unit at Suite Living in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. She was born in Cincinnati, OH but grew up in Minneapolis, MN. She graduated from Holy Angels Academy in 1953, and in 1957 graduated from Saint Mary’s College in South Bend, IN, where she met the love of her life, John J. McMahon III (Jack) on a blind date (a Notre Dame basketball game). They were married in July 1957 and lived in the Buffalo, NY area for 42 years before moving to Longboat Key, FL in 1999, where she was very active with the Longboat Key library and the St. Mary’s Star of the Sea Women’s Guild. Together, Carole and Jack raised 4 children, hosted many pool parties at their Tonawanda, NY home for loud and boisterous neighbors, made sure their children got to play sports, attend camps, and graduate from college, and enjoyed travels to Maine, Alaska, and several European destinations. Carole volunteered as a Blue Bird leader, Cub Scout den mother, religious education instructor, and when her children were grown, she worked for the Sweet Home Federal Credit Union, where she made many friends and made fun of her boss, Jack McMahon. Carole and Jack had been married for 61 years when Jack passed in 2018. Carole was preceded in death by her parents William and Lillian Harnist. She is survived by her children, John (Priscilla a.k.a Pat) Kathy (Mark) Foresman, Karen (Ouida Crozier), and Sheila; grandchildren Alicen Foresman (Peter Wicks), Daniel Foresman, and Jake (Dan) McMahon, brother William Harnist, sister-in-law Mary (Thomas) Klier; and 6 nieces and nephews. Carole lived with Alzheimer’s Disease for the last several years of her life but always kept a little of that spark that made her Carole. We believe she is now at peace with Jack, though we will miss her greatly. A funeral mass in Carole’s honor will be held in the coming months when she will be interred at Cedar Grove Cemetery on the University of Notre Dame campus, joining Jack. Memorials preferred to the Alzheimer’s Association.