Juanita Evelyn Mcguire

Juanita Evelyn McGuire 1921 2011 Juanita McGuire was born to Webster and Helen Stelter West in the small town of Tulia, Swisher Co., Texas, in the Panhandle region. Her parents were farmers and were drawn to the area from Missouri. Juanita's paternal grandparents had earlier moved to nearby Muleshoe in Bailey County. Juanita soon left Texas for Missouri but in 1936 she moved to California with her parents where she graduated from Exeter High School in Tulare County. She met the love of her life, Ted McGuire, in high school, and the couple were married on June 19, 1940. The start of WWII brought the young couple to Sausalito where Ted was initially stationed at Marinship during the war. They never looked back and made Marin their home, moving to San Rafael in 1955. Juanita always loved the art of sewing and worked at Brown's Home Furnishers in Mill Valley and Lee Marriott Interior Design in San Rafael. She then determined to sew just for fun and began a 38-year career with the City of San Rafael, where she retired in 1992 as Administrative Assistant to the Fire Chief. After her retirement she and Ted traveled and were active in a number of socially active organizations and the sewing began in earnest. Quilting was her passion and friends and family have been especially graced with her legacy as a quilter. To the end Juanita never stopped working on and planning a multitude of quilting, sewing and knitting projects. She was vibrant and active to her last day and passed away in her sleep on March 25, 2011, at age 89. Juanita was well known for her gregarious personality and upon first meeting her you were no longer a stranger. Juanita was predeceased by her husband in 2000, and her youngest sister, Nancy M. Conzelman of Bremerton, WA, in 2009, and is survived by a son, Eric McGuire (Lisa) of Petaluma, and two grandchildren, Kelly Ramirez (Ramiro) of Santa Rosa, CA, and Trevor McGuire of Santa Monica, CA. She is also survived by two sisters, Norma Griffiths of Corvallis, OR, and Velda Moore of San Diego, CA. Her brother, Joe West (Clella) also survives in Visalia, CA. Friends and family are invited to an informal celebration of her life on Saturday, April 9 at 12:00 Noon, at the San Rafael Recreation Center facility located at 618 B Street in downtown San Rafael. While flowers are a nice thought Juanita would prefer that any monetary donation be spent to a worthwhile charity, such as Guide Dogs for the Blind.

Arrangements under the direction of Keaton's Mortuary, San Rafael, CA.