Elizabeth “Betty” McGuire passed away peacefully on April 25, 2023 in Eureka. Betty was born on October 12, 1929 in Glasgow, Scotland. Unfortunately, her mother, Agnes, died when Betty was only 12 years old. Betty lived with her oldest sister and family until she met and married her husband John McGuire on June 24, 1950. They were married for 70 years!

John worked as a Terrazzo mason throughout Scotland and England before being offered an opportunity to emigrate to Vancouver, Canada in 1956. Embracing this chance, John went to Canada to begin work and earned enough money to send for the passage of Betty and their two “wee” sons, John and Gerald. After a 4 months apart, Betty began her travels to Vancouver with the young boys on a long ocean passage from Liverpool, England to Quebec, Canada. She told stories about the trip where she and the boys slept in one small bunk and a kind steward would bring them occasional treats. Once they arrived in Quebec, they boarded a train for the trip to Vancouver through the plains of Manitoba and over the Canadian Rockies. During the 1950s this was quite a feat for a young woman alone with two small children.

After four years in British Colombia, the family which now included the youngest son Stephan, moved to Eureka in 1960. It took three cars to travel from Vancouver to Eureka, where they were able to fulfill their dream of owning a home. Settling into life in Humboldt County, Betty attended night school learning secretarial skills. In 1967 she became the administrative secretary for Zoe Barnum Continuation High School, from which she retired 23 years later. Betty truly enjoyed her job and the students. The students equally appreciated Betty and her no-nonsense but caring approach.

Upon retirement, Betty and John moved to a home they had previously built in Willow Creek. Betty loved golf and she and John became members of Willow Creek Golf Club. While living in Willow Creek she played golf daily and looked forward to the Women’s Club events, where she developed close friendships with many of the ladies. She took many golf trips to Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, Hawaii, and throughout California. She and John were very fortunate to enjoy many years of golf, friendships, family and sunshine.

Betty was preceded in death by her husband, John Kennedy McGuire. She leaves behind sons John, wife Melody, Jerry, Stephan, wife Sherry, grandchildren Jason, Adam, Jake, Brittany, Stephan and Katie, great-grandchildren, Maya, Luke, Natalie, Avery, Lucy and brother-in-law Charlie McGuire, along with numerous nieces and nephews in Scotland and Canada.

A special thanks to the staff at Hospice and Timber Ridge for their compassionate care in the last few days of our mother’s life.

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