In 1998 McCormack was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the deaf.
[2] McCormack attended the Sumner School for the Deaf (later Van Asch College), for a year, where she was a weekly boarder and learned to lip read.
[2] At that time sign language was not used or taught at the school, so McCormack relied on lipreading and interpreters throughout her life.
[3] In the 1998 New Year Honours, McCormack was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the deaf.
[7] McCormack was awarded life membership of the Canterbury Deaf Society.