Obituary of John C. Maguire

John C. Maguire who was active in the affairs of the town of Burlington passed away on Monday morning, August 28, 2006 at the Winchester Hospital. He was 76 years old. John was born in the family home on Harrison Ave in Woburn. His family settled in Burlington in 1938 and he has remained in Burlington ever since. He was a graduate of Burlington High School Class of 1949, which consisted of 34 students. He served in the Navy during the Korean War for 4 years some of which was spent aboard the USS Wasp. He was the recipient of the Good Conduct, Navy Occupation, China Service, United Nations, Korean Service, and National Defense Medals. He went on to work as a salesman selling refrigerated Truck Bodies for 50 years. He had worked with Johnson Truck Bodies and his sales territory consisted of New England, Pennsylvania, and New York. His outgoing personality made him well liked by all his customers. John was active in a number of the local clubs. He was an outgoing man, who was always willing to lend a hand for a worthy cause. He was a Past Commander of the Burlington American Legion and a Past President of the Burlington Lions Club. He was also a member of the Billerica Elks and Billerica Irish American Club. He was an avid golfer, a passion he shared with his sons. He was a loyal fan of the Burlington High School Football team. As his grandchildren grew older, he enjoyed going to their sporting events, dance recitals and other special events. John is the beloved husband of 54 years of Dorothy C. “Stina” (Norden). He is the loving father of John C. Jr. & his wife Mary of Woburn, Steven & his companion Irene Sienko of Billerica, James of Burlington, Leo & his wife Dee of Billerica, Ellen & her husband James Power of Billerica and Neil of Burlington. Brother of Chester of Burlington and the late Edward, William and Leo. Grandfather of John C. III, Ryan, Michelle, Shannon, & Nicole Maguire and James and Gwendolyn Power. Funeral Services will be held at the Edward V. Sullivan Funeral Home, 43 Winn St., BURLINGTON (Exit 34 off Rt. 128, Woburn side) on Thursday, August 31 at 10 a.m. Visiting hours Wednesday 4-8 p.m. Interment in Chestnut Hill Cemetery, Burlington. Memorials in John’s name may be made to the American Diabetes Association, 330 Congress St., Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02210. Leo's Eulogy for his Dad On behalf of my family I would like to thank you all for coming today. It is a great tribute to the memory of my Dad. I would be remiss if I did not mention one very important person who can’t be with us today, my brother John Jr., who has been hospitalized for the last month after suffering a massive heart attack. The good news is that in the last week, while Dad was in decline, Johnny rebounded greatly and is now out of intensive care and sitting up talking. We think Dad was giving up his strength so that Johnny could have it. If he were able to, Johnny would be giving the eulogy that Steven and I are sharing today. The silver lining in this situation is that we will be finished with the service before noon time now as Johnny’s speech would most likely have lasted as long as the Eisenhower administration….. Although we are all saddened by my father passing away, I am sure that if he could, and we all wish he could, he would stand before you today and say something along the lines of what the immortal Iron Horse Lou Gehrig told a Yankee Stadium crowd as he addressed them shortly before his untimely death which was, “ I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.” My father considered himself extremely lucky and he was because he was a simple man who had simple loves. They were 1. His Wife. 2. His Family 3. His Work. 4. His Country and 5. His Friends. Dad had many friends, but he always told me that that his closest friends were his brothers. And who could ask for better friends than Eddie, Billy, Leo and Chet. To illustrate why my father was so lucky I would like to describe two perfect days my father might have. The first would be a work day and would start with him having tea and toast with his beautiful bride Stina and then heading off to his office, which until his retirement two years ago was located a stones throw from where we are now on Winn Street. Dad was proud of the fact that he had spent 50 years in the refrigerated truck body business, mostly as a salesman. Being in the business for so long resulted in all his customers becoming his friends. As any salesman worth his salt will tell you, your job becomes a lot easier when your customers truly like you. On this day Dad would close a deal for a large order and would be on cloud nine. He truly got a rush and feeling of pride whenever he closed a deal. To top off this perfect day he and my mom would take a ride and go watch one of his grand kids play one of their baseball, softball or soccer games. His other perfect day would have to involve golf. Dad loved to play golf, and although he was never a low handicapper, he loved the camaraderie that came with playing the game. He would play up at Green Meadow and his foursome would always include my brother Steven, usually me and since this is his perfect day, would have to include my brother-in-law Jimmy Power. No offense to his other in-laws Mary and Dee, but J.P. was his favorite, for not only was he a nice guy who takes good care of Dad’s “Beautiful Daughter”, my sister Ellen, he is also 100% full blooded Irish and can play golf like my dad could only dream about. If he knew J.P. was playing with us he would proclaim excitedly throughout the week, “We’re gonna get to play with Power on Saturday.” On this perfect day dad would play pretty well and shoot a 97. After golf we would have to return to one of Dad’s favorite destinations, American Legion Post 273. Dad was extremely proud of his service in the Navy during the Korean War and loved his post dearly. Bobby Ganley would be working the bar and just by “CHANCE” my brother Jimmy would be there. Bobby would ask what Dad shot. Upon hearing Dad say 97, Jimmy would immediately engage in he and Dad’s favorite past time of ball busting. He would call Dad Old Stump Neck and accuse him of cheating at golf. Dad would respond, “Wise-Ass Kid” and shame Jimmy into buying a round calling him “Short Arms/Long Pockets” Upon receiving the round he would always say “Bout Time”. Laughter would fill the place. In the old days Dad would then challenge us to a game of pool using good friend Red Burke as his partner. He knew how to choose a good partner and would good-naturedly delight in beating us. In more recent years the day would involve watching sports with Mike O’Regan, his partner in many a football pool. They would hit the pool and then mock argue over who had paid to put them in. Again laughter would fill the place. His perfect day would always include my mother his, “Sweet Princess” and this one would end with him taking her to dinner or to a play or movie. It should be noted that sometime the perfect day had a slight variation and if Dad was a little too tired from his day of fun, he might just send my brother Neil to get some Chinese food with the instructions, “I’ll Buy, You Fly”. Because my dad was a simple man with simple wants, he got to enjoy these “Perfect Days” literally hundreds of times during his life. He would tell you that the main reason he got to have so may perfect days is that he married the perfect wife for him, his “Charming Young Damsel” Stina, who in their 54 years of marriage, always gave him the freedom to do whatever he wanted to. In closing I would like to thank Dad for all the good times and great memories he has left us with and to end with his signature send off “Thank a Million!” I love you Dad.