Michael Aloysius McGuire, 92, eminence grise of the The Back Porch Gang, passed away on Oct. 24, 2014.
He is survived by his four daughters, Barbara Sturges, Patricia Smith, Judith McGuire, and Melissa McGuire; and a brother, Terry.
“Mike,” as he was known to one and all, was one of the original members of The Back Porch Gang that jawboned regularly at Dodger Pines Golf Course. He was also an avid participant in several other elite gabfests around Vero Beach.
He served as a radioman in the Navy during World War II, serving on the USS Mississippi, USS Zaca, and USS PC-581, from which he was plucked to enter the V-12 program at Princeton University just before the war ended.
He ultimately graduated from Bucknell University where he played varsity baseball. He was an avid fan of the game throughout his life despite living in Boston.
He had a long career with “Ma Bell,” first with New Jersey Bell and then with New England Tel. & Tel., where he became a Vice President.
He and his wife Binnie, who died in 2004, moved to Vero Beach in 1980. Until the last month of his life he tested his mettle by absorbing books on abstract mathematical concepts and by completing the Saturday New York Times crossword puzzle in ink, usually within an hour. He always said that his epitaph should read, “One bird short of an eagle,” in reference to the missing badge in his Boy Scout career.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be made to VNA Hospice House in Vero Beach.