Edward F. McGuire Jr., an East Hampton native who worked for the Long Island Lighting Company for 32 years, died on Friday in Melbourne, Fla., where he had been living at the Blake assisted living facility since his health declined in May. Mr. McGuire, who had diabetes, was 92.
Volunteerism was a big part of his life here. He served as a volunteer fireman and Little League baseball coach, and was “the guy responsible for getting lights for the ball field on Abraham’s Path” in Amagansett, his family said, having called in favors from friends and colleagues at LILCO, as the town had no money for the improvement.
Known as Frank, or Franco to his friends, Edward F. McGuire Jr. was born at Southampton Hospital on Sept. 20, 1933, to Edward Francis McGuire Sr. and the former Nora Durkan, who had emigrated from County Mayo, Ireland. He grew up on Cove Hollow Road.
An athlete, he played football, basketball, and baseball for East Hampton High School before leaving early to enlist in the Navy in the summer of 1951. While serving in the Korean War aboard the U.S.S. Missouri, which at the time was the biggest battleship in the Navy’s fleet, he was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, the China Service Medal, a two-star Korean Service Medal, and the United Nations Service Medal.
He and Elizabeth Olejnik, who was called Betty, were married on April 13, 1956. The couple raised four children on Cove Hollow Road.
Mr. and Mrs. McGuire relocated to Melbourne in 1994, following Mr. McGuire’s retirement. They spent their retirement years traveling, while on occasion visiting with family for weddings and the births of their grandchildren. Mr. McGuire’s last trip, in 2017, was to his mother’s homestead in Tourmakeady, in County Mayo, with his sister and 70 extended family members for a wedding.
Mrs. McGuire died in 2015, after 59 years of marriage. A brother, James McGuire, a sister, Kathryn McGuirk, and a grandson, Matthew McGuire, also died before him.
He is survived by four children, Frank McGuire III of Melbourne, Nora J. Grenier of Eden, Vt., and Port Charlotte Fla., Elizabeth McGuire of Pocasset, Mass., and Cynthia McGuire of Loxahatchee, Fla. Five grandchildren, six great-grandchildren, and three great-great-grandchildren also survive, as does his very special friend, Evelyn Sajkiewicz, who gave him great companionship and care for the past eight years.
“I want to be remembered as a good family man and a hard worker,” he recently told a daughter. That expectation, his family wrote, was met by all who called him family or friend.
A celebration of Mr. McGuire’s life will be held in East Hampton in the spring. The family has suggested memorial contributions to a hospice in the area, and expressed gratitude to Mederi Caretenders Hospice in Viera, Fla., Christina, Mr. McGuire’s nurse there, and the staff at the Blake.
