Friends of Michael McCarthy remember the late Honolulu attorney as a "fun-loving guy."

"He was a pure Irishman, for sure, smiling and very fun-loving," attorney Anthony Kim said of his longtime friend, who died Saturday at Straub Clinic & Hospital after a car he was driving plunged into Ala Wai Yacht Harbor and sank. His step-granddaughter, 15, who was a passenger in the car, was released from the hospital yesterday.

McCarthy, 66, was managing attorney for GEICO's staff counsel in Hawai'i.

"He sounded like an attorney, looked the part and was very smart, very low-key," said Tim Dayton, general manager of GEICO Insurance in Hawai'i. "He wore so many hats in his professional career."

An Indiana native, McCarthy earned his law degree from Indiana University and came to Hawai'i in 1967. He started practicing law at Conroy and Hamilton.

From 1979 to 1984, McCarthy was in private business with a Hawai'i-based holding company involved in ventures that included land development and cable TV. He returned to law practice in 1984.

McCarthy represented former state Sen. Marshall Ige in 2001 when Ige pleaded guilty to theft and tax-evasion charges.

McCarthy enjoyed sailing and owned a boat that he kept at Ala Wai Yacht Harbor, Dayton said. Another hobby was gourmet cooking, Dayton said.

Services are pending. Among McCarthy's survivors are daughters Melissa McCarthy and Michelle McCarthy.

Reach Rod Ohira at rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com.