Dawn McCarthy – Obituary 

11^th April 1948 – 1^st December 2025

 

The family of Dawn (Valerie) McCarthy (nee Robertson) are saddened to announce her peaceful passing on Monday, December 1, 2025. 

Dawn will be missed dearly by her two daughters, Jodie McCarthy and Debra McCarthy (Scott Bateson), and her son, David McCarthy (Heather Murphy). Missing her also will be Dawn’s cherished grandchildren Ryan Scott and Sophie and Xavier Bateson, and her two step-grandchildren, Oscar and Meredith Kent.  

 

Dawn was born and raised in Geelong, Victoria, with family ties in Queenscliff, Cobden, Colac and surrounding areas. Many great childhood memories of months spent at the beach and fun times with her Aunty Dawn and her Uncle Jim, Uncle Colin, brothers, cousins and grandparents who fondly called her Dawny Bob. 

 

In July of 1969 she completed her studies at the Alfred Hospital and was registered as a Trained General Nurse. She graduated alongside many of whom would be longtime friends, including her best friend Roz Johnson sharing many amazing memories until her passing in 2004.  

She went on to be a world traveler with great experiences in Europe and especially London that she shared for decades to come. After returning home and marrying Justin McCarthy in 1975, they moved from inner-city to the suburbs where Dawn continued to practice nursing at Dulux paints. They began their family soon after and moved to a hobby farm in 1983 in Berwick, the suburb that she called home from then on. She was a proud business owner of Berwick Tattslotto with her friend Jenny Shepherd.  

 

After completing studies in Applied Kinesiology with friend Linda Hoogenboom, she retrained as a nurse and obtained her Diploma of Business in 2006. A strong and accomplished woman! After re-climbing the nursing ladder, she worked as a facility manager at numerous nursing homes around Victoria and ultimately became a critical member of Regis’ quality assurance team, travelling the country. She will be missed by her teammates Helen, Trish, Edzard, Aly and Nusia, among many others from Regis, including longtime friend Lee Brown. 

Dawn was predeceased by her parents, Olga Robertson (nee Vagg) and Robert Robertson, and many wonderful friends. She was a loyal and loving friend to so many, always taking time to have a laugh, was always there for a shoulder to lean on, yet never held back the truth! Dawn loved her dogs over the years and most recently Percy was her best companion. An amazing brain for cards and board games, and no match for crosswords!  

 

The family appreciates all the messages, calls and offers to assist us. We would graciously like to thank the staff at Monash Medical Centre, especially Dan Croagh who always went above and beyond for Dawn and the family.  

 

There will be a closed casket viewing on Sunday the 7^th December at 12.30pm to 2.30pm At Tobin Brothers Berwick and the family would like to extend an invitation to celebrate her life at one of Dawn’s favourite places The Berwick Inn on 7^th December from 1pm to 5pm. 

 

The family requests in lieu of flowers please donate to the amazing Monash Medical Centre https://monashhealthfoundation.org/donate/