Thomas Charles “TC” Carey

Thomas Charles “TC” Carey, age 59, of Charlotte, North Carolina, passed away peacefully on July 2, 2020, in Wake Forest Baptist Hospital after suffering a severe burn in a home accident. Beloved son of Helen Rouge Carey and the late Thomas Carey, TC was born in Washington, D.C. and lived in Queens, New York and Maplewood, New Jersey, as a child. A graduate of St. Fidelis School and Columbia High School, he attended the Newark College of Engineering, Northeastern University, and much to his mother’s relief, graduated from the University of Massachusetts with a degree in Hotel, Restaurant & Travel Management.
His career in food and beverage took him to Martha’s Vineyard, Boston, Lake Tahoe, and Santa Monica. In 1990, he made a career change and relocated to Charlotte, NC to work in marketing and promotions for WFNZ “The Fox”, notably with the syndicated John Boy & Billy Show. He transitioned to the role of writer and on-air talent and with his natural and pervasive mischief, delighted listeners with his irreverent wit and characters such as “Flynnie the Fix-it Guy”, and the New Jersey native who offered weekly interpretations of “The Sopranos” for southerners. He was also an avid participant in many charitable endeavors through the station and local community organizations.
In later years he pursued various entrepreneurial opportunities and a myriad of hobbies and interests.
He will be remembered as a person with a long-term, loyal friend group all over the United States; he was incredibly present for his friends and was a “first phone call” for anyone who needed help. He will be deeply missed by his mother, Helen, sisters Trish Fitzpatrick (Bill), Christine Maguire (John), and Mary Ann Keenan (John), and his aunts Terry Rouge, Jane Rouge-Martin, and cousin Kathy Kisla, and many other close cousins. He was adored by his nieces and nephews, Tom, Jeanne, Margaret, and Billy Fitzpatrick and Jack, Grace, and Thomas Charles Keenan (his namesake).
Donations in TC’s name will be gratefully accepted by Wake Forest Baptist Health, Attn: Office of Philanthropy and Alumni Relations/Burn Unit Fund, P.O. Box 571021, Winston-Salem, NC 27157-1021 or to Chloe’s Place, P.O. Box 2273, Southern Pines, NC 28388. Please reference his name with any gifts.
Celebrations of life are planned for Charlotte, Cape Cod, and New Jersey at a later date.