Wife of NRCC political director dies of cancer

Mary Gabriel Harpring Carmack, 44, wife of Terry Carmack, political director of the National Republican Congressional Committee, died Sunday in Alexandria from a rare form of cancer.

A Louisville, Ky., native, her career included working on the D.C. staff and the 1984 campaign of Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who spoke at her funeral. “In these last years she taught us how to meet the greatest challenge of all with great faith, courage, grace and always with that smile,” said McConnell, now minority leader in the Senate.

{mosads}She met her husband, Carmack, while working on McConnell’s campaign. Between 1989 and 1993 she worked in the administration of President George H.W. Bush as an assistant in the White House Office of Legislative Affairs.

Memorials may be made to the Mary Gabriel Carmack Fund for Children; Washington Street United Methodist Church; 115 South Washington St., Alexandria, Va. 22314.