Thomas W. McGuire

Born on March 6, 1947, in Rock Island, IL to Orville and Patricia McGuire.

Tom grew up in Milan, Illinois, and was involved in sports, scouting, and developed a love of music and the outdoors. Attended Illinois Wesleyan University, graduating in 1969 with a BA. During his freshman and sophomore year in college, Tom was a member of the MSM Wesleyan Players, a traveling theatrical ministry group. In his Junior year, he would play bass and sing for a college rock group The Wanderers which eventually would expand and become the Ekstacy. The band was well known in the quad cities. He would elope and marry Ruth Ames during the last semester of college. He would later earn his Masters Degree in Counseling from the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater campus.

Though he truly was a Jack-of-All Trades, Tom had a fulfilling career in law enforcement working for the Division of Adult Parole in Wisconsin and then returning to this career in Colorado. Intermixed between these years, Tom had a variety of other careers and second jobs from being a Private Investigator, owner of a Bike and Ski Shop, football official, Pastor, college professor, and too many more side hustles and jobs to list here.

In addition to the numerous jobs he worked (some at the same time), Tom volunteered his time and skills to his community and church. He promoted Boy Scouts and was well respected as a scoutmaster for the program he established. The local county judge was known to stipulate troubled teens be required to participate in his scout troop as a condition of their juvenile probation. Throughout the years, Tom served his local church in many capacities, from leading Bible studies, to being the pastor, and everything in between (elder, leading worship, youth pastor, etc.). He would pastor a church in Penrose Colorado for several years while also working as a Parole Supervisor

Tom was known for his big personality, speaking to large crowds at times, even doing ventriloquism to a crowd of more than a 10,000 boy scouts at the National Jamboree.

Tom was survived by his wife of almost 57 years, Ruth, and their three sons, Shaun (and Jackie), Shane (and Cherry) and Sheldon (and Rachel), his foster daughter, Lori Olson (and Gary), his brother, Rick McGuire (and Anne Greenberg), and six grandchildren: Michael, Matthew, Rachel, Tommo, Jake and Cade. Tom was preceded in death by his parents, Patricia and Orville McGuire.

A Celebration of Life will be held at 2 PM on February 10th at Swan Law Funeral Home located at 501 N. Cascade Ave., Colorado Springs, CO, 80903.