Mary Louise McGuire passed away at Madrid Homes Nursing Home peacefully on Thursday, December 16, 2021.
Mary Lou was born on July 12th, 1922; the only child of Officer William H. Moore and his Irish Immigrant bride, Margaret (Wrynne) Moore.
Mary Lou spent the first 94 years of her life living within a stone's throw of the home she grew up in. She was baptized into St. Augustin's Catholic Church (Although she liked to point out that at the time of her baptism in 1922, the church was being built and the congregants actually met in a brick building across the street from the Art Center and that was, in fact, where her first sacrament was received).
Mary Lou was a 1940 graduate of Roosevelt High School. After high school she enrolled at the University of Iowa to study commerce.
The summer of her sophomore year, Mary Lou decided college was not for her; with the country embroiled in WWII, people were needed for jobs in replacing all the men enlisting.
So she left Iowa and enrolled in the Capital City Commercial College where she honed her clerical expertise; eventually typing 174 words a minute and learning to take shorthand.
These skills were a valuable commodity when she enlisted in the W.A.V.E.S. (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Services) of the Naval Reserve on June 7, 1944. She was stationed on Treasure Island in the San Francisco bay area where she worked as a secretary for the Chief Staff Officer of a Dual Command called the Northern California Sector, Western Sea Frontier and Naval Local Defense Forces, 12th Naval District.
As a Yeoman 2nd Class Petty Officer, she handled many confidential materials and enjoyed a fairly high security clearance level to work in the Operations Office. She remembers being frustrated that while she was privy to secret documents and meetings; she could not discuss her work with anyone. The starkest memory she had of her time in the W.A.V.E.S. was noticing one lone ship streaking across the Pacific on a plotting board and wondering what the heck was going on. A few days later the Enola Gay flew over Hiroshima and dropped the Atom Bomb. The ship that Mary Lou was "watching" turned out to be the U.S.S. Indianapolis which was carrying components for the first Atom Bomb. She literally had a front row seat to watch history in the making.
After her stint in the W.A.V.E.S. she returned to the University of Iowa and embraced her love of the English language and writing and this time around, majored in journalism through the G.I. Bill.
In the Newsroom of the Daily Iowan she met the love of her life, James R. McGuire who also was returning to the University of Iowa after his naval service on the USS Keokuk and USS Sylvania. Jim, a reporter, noticed the pretty new society editor and finagled a job assignment to work with her. The rest, as they say, is history.
They were married in Iowa City on July 2, 1949 and had their wedding reception in the Iowa Memorial Union. They were married for 65 years until Jim's passing in 2014.
Through the years they raised 5 children and Mary Lou worked at different times as a part-time copy editor at The Des Moines Register, a secretary at St. Augustin's school and after her children were grown, helped with office work for the Diocese of Des Moines.
She and Jim were active in St. Augustin's Church, and were leaders in the early years of the Cursillo movement of the Catholic Church. She also belonged to the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Mary Lou shared her faith freely and loved her family deeply. Since she came from such a small family, her happiest times were large family gatherings. She relished seeing her children, then grandchildren interacting with their cousins.
Tuesday, January 4, 2022 a rosary will begin at 6:00pm, with the family greeting friends from 6:30pm to 8:00pm at Dunn's Chapel, 2121 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa 50312. The following day, Wednesday, January 5, 2022 Mass of Christian Burial will begin at 10:00am, St. Augustin Catholic Church, 545 42nd Street, Des Moines, Iowa 50312, with a reception to follow in the fellowship hall. Interment at Woodland Cemetery, Des Moines will take place after lunch.
ILES DUNN'S CHAPEL
Mary Lou was born on July 12th, 1922; the only child of Officer William H. Moore and his Irish Immigrant bride, Margaret (Wrynne) Moore.
Mary Lou spent the first 94 years of her life living within a stone's throw of the home she grew up in. She was baptized into St. Augustin's Catholic Church (Although she liked to point out that at the time of her baptism in 1922, the church was being built and the congregants actually met in a brick building across the street from the Art Center and that was, in fact, where her first sacrament was received).
Mary Lou was a 1940 graduate of Roosevelt High School. After high school she enrolled at the University of Iowa to study commerce.
The summer of her sophomore year, Mary Lou decided college was not for her; with the country embroiled in WWII, people were needed for jobs in replacing all the men enlisting.
So she left Iowa and enrolled in the Capital City Commercial College where she honed her clerical expertise; eventually typing 174 words a minute and learning to take shorthand.
These skills were a valuable commodity when she enlisted in the W.A.V.E.S. (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Services) of the Naval Reserve on June 7, 1944. She was stationed on Treasure Island in the San Francisco bay area where she worked as a secretary for the Chief Staff Officer of a Dual Command called the Northern California Sector, Western Sea Frontier and Naval Local Defense Forces, 12th Naval District.
As a Yeoman 2nd Class Petty Officer, she handled many confidential materials and enjoyed a fairly high security clearance level to work in the Operations Office. She remembers being frustrated that while she was privy to secret documents and meetings; she could not discuss her work with anyone. The starkest memory she had of her time in the W.A.V.E.S. was noticing one lone ship streaking across the Pacific on a plotting board and wondering what the heck was going on. A few days later the Enola Gay flew over Hiroshima and dropped the Atom Bomb. The ship that Mary Lou was "watching" turned out to be the U.S.S. Indianapolis which was carrying components for the first Atom Bomb. She literally had a front row seat to watch history in the making.
After her stint in the W.A.V.E.S. she returned to the University of Iowa and embraced her love of the English language and writing and this time around, majored in journalism through the G.I. Bill.
In the Newsroom of the Daily Iowan she met the love of her life, James R. McGuire who also was returning to the University of Iowa after his naval service on the USS Keokuk and USS Sylvania. Jim, a reporter, noticed the pretty new society editor and finagled a job assignment to work with her. The rest, as they say, is history.
They were married in Iowa City on July 2, 1949 and had their wedding reception in the Iowa Memorial Union. They were married for 65 years until Jim's passing in 2014.
Through the years they raised 5 children and Mary Lou worked at different times as a part-time copy editor at The Des Moines Register, a secretary at St. Augustin's school and after her children were grown, helped with office work for the Diocese of Des Moines.
She and Jim were active in St. Augustin's Church, and were leaders in the early years of the Cursillo movement of the Catholic Church. She also belonged to the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Mary Lou shared her faith freely and loved her family deeply. Since she came from such a small family, her happiest times were large family gatherings. She relished seeing her children, then grandchildren interacting with their cousins.
Tuesday, January 4, 2022 a rosary will begin at 6:00pm, with the family greeting friends from 6:30pm to 8:00pm at Dunn's Chapel, 2121 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa 50312. The following day, Wednesday, January 5, 2022 Mass of Christian Burial will begin at 10:00am, St. Augustin Catholic Church, 545 42nd Street, Des Moines, Iowa 50312, with a reception to follow in the fellowship hall. Interment at Woodland Cemetery, Des Moines will take place after lunch.
ILES DUNN'S CHAPEL
Mary Louise McGuire passed away at Madrid Homes Nursing Home peacefully on Thursday, December 16, 2021.
Mary Lou was born on July 12th, 1922; the only child of Officer William H. Moore and his Irish Immigrant bride, Margaret (Wrynne) Moore.
Mary Lou spent the first 94 years of her life living within a stone's throw of the home she grew up in. She was baptized into St. Augustin's Catholic Church (Although she liked to point out that at the time of her baptism in 1922, the church was being built and the congregants actually met in a brick building across the street from the Art Center and that was, in fact, where her first sacrament was received).
Mary Lou was a 1940 graduate of Roosevelt High School. After high school she enrolled at the University of Iowa to study commerce.
The summer of her sophomore year, Mary Lou decided college was not for her; with the country embroiled in WWII, people were needed for jobs in replacing all the men enlisting.
So she left Iowa and enrolled in the Capital City Commercial College where she honed her clerical expertise; eventually typing 174 words a minute and learning to take shorthand.
These skills were a valuable commodity when she enlisted in the W.A.V.E.S. (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Services) of the Naval Reserve on June 7, 1944. She was stationed on Treasure Island in the San Francisco bay area where she worked as a secretary for the Chief Staff Officer of a Dual Command called the Northern California Sector, Western Sea Frontier and Naval Local Defense Forces, 12th Naval District.
As a Yeoman 2nd Class Petty Officer, she handled many confidential materials and enjoyed a fairly high security clearance level to work in the Operations Office. She remembers being frustrated that while she was privy to secret documents and meetings; she could not discuss her work with anyone. The starkest memory she had of her time in the W.A.V.E.S. was noticing one lone ship streaking across the Pacific on a plotting board and wondering what the heck was going on. A few days later the Enola Gay flew over Hiroshima and dropped the Atom Bomb. The ship that Mary Lou was "watching" turned out to be the U.S.S. Indianapolis which was carrying components for the first Atom Bomb. She literally had a front row seat to watch history in the making.
After her stint in the W.A.V.E.S. she returned to the University of Iowa and embraced her love of the English language and writing and this time around, majored in journalism through the G.I. Bill.
In the Newsroom of the Daily Iowan she met the love of her life, James R. McGuire who also was returning to the University of Iowa after his naval service on the USS Keokuk and USS Sylvania. Jim, a reporter, noticed the pretty new society editor and finagled a job assignment to work with her. The rest, as they say, is history.
They were married in Iowa City on July 2, 1949 and had their wedding reception in the Iowa Memorial Union. They were married for 65 years until Jim's passing in 2014.
Through the years they raised 5 children and Mary Lou worked at different times as a part-time copy editor at The Des Moines Register, a secretary at St. Augustin's school and after her children were grown, helped with office work for the Diocese of Des Moines.
She and Jim were active in St. Augustin's Church, and were leaders in the early years of the Cursillo movement of the Catholic Church. She also belonged to the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Mary Lou shared her faith freely and loved her family deeply. Since she came from such a small family, her happiest times were large family gatherings. She relished seeing her children, then grandchildren interacting with their cousins.
Tuesday, January 4, 2022 a rosary will begin at 6:00pm, with the family greeting friends from 6:30pm to 8:00pm at Dunn's Chapel, 2121 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa 50312. The following day, Wednesday, January 5, 2022 Mass of Christian Burial will begin at 10:00am, St. Augustin Catholic Church, 545 42nd Street, Des Moines, Iowa 50312, with a reception to follow in the fellowship hall. Interment at Woodland Cemetery, Des Moines will take place after lunch.
ILES DUNN'S CHAPEL
Mary Lou was born on July 12th, 1922; the only child of Officer William H. Moore and his Irish Immigrant bride, Margaret (Wrynne) Moore.
Mary Lou spent the first 94 years of her life living within a stone's throw of the home she grew up in. She was baptized into St. Augustin's Catholic Church (Although she liked to point out that at the time of her baptism in 1922, the church was being built and the congregants actually met in a brick building across the street from the Art Center and that was, in fact, where her first sacrament was received).
Mary Lou was a 1940 graduate of Roosevelt High School. After high school she enrolled at the University of Iowa to study commerce.
The summer of her sophomore year, Mary Lou decided college was not for her; with the country embroiled in WWII, people were needed for jobs in replacing all the men enlisting.
So she left Iowa and enrolled in the Capital City Commercial College where she honed her clerical expertise; eventually typing 174 words a minute and learning to take shorthand.
These skills were a valuable commodity when she enlisted in the W.A.V.E.S. (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Services) of the Naval Reserve on June 7, 1944. She was stationed on Treasure Island in the San Francisco bay area where she worked as a secretary for the Chief Staff Officer of a Dual Command called the Northern California Sector, Western Sea Frontier and Naval Local Defense Forces, 12th Naval District.
As a Yeoman 2nd Class Petty Officer, she handled many confidential materials and enjoyed a fairly high security clearance level to work in the Operations Office. She remembers being frustrated that while she was privy to secret documents and meetings; she could not discuss her work with anyone. The starkest memory she had of her time in the W.A.V.E.S. was noticing one lone ship streaking across the Pacific on a plotting board and wondering what the heck was going on. A few days later the Enola Gay flew over Hiroshima and dropped the Atom Bomb. The ship that Mary Lou was "watching" turned out to be the U.S.S. Indianapolis which was carrying components for the first Atom Bomb. She literally had a front row seat to watch history in the making.
After her stint in the W.A.V.E.S. she returned to the University of Iowa and embraced her love of the English language and writing and this time around, majored in journalism through the G.I. Bill.
In the Newsroom of the Daily Iowan she met the love of her life, James R. McGuire who also was returning to the University of Iowa after his naval service on the USS Keokuk and USS Sylvania. Jim, a reporter, noticed the pretty new society editor and finagled a job assignment to work with her. The rest, as they say, is history.
They were married in Iowa City on July 2, 1949 and had their wedding reception in the Iowa Memorial Union. They were married for 65 years until Jim's passing in 2014.
Through the years they raised 5 children and Mary Lou worked at different times as a part-time copy editor at The Des Moines Register, a secretary at St. Augustin's school and after her children were grown, helped with office work for the Diocese of Des Moines.
She and Jim were active in St. Augustin's Church, and were leaders in the early years of the Cursillo movement of the Catholic Church. She also belonged to the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Mary Lou shared her faith freely and loved her family deeply. Since she came from such a small family, her happiest times were large family gatherings. She relished seeing her children, then grandchildren interacting with their cousins.
Tuesday, January 4, 2022 a rosary will begin at 6:00pm, with the family greeting friends from 6:30pm to 8:00pm at Dunn's Chapel, 2121 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa 50312. The following day, Wednesday, January 5, 2022 Mass of Christian Burial will begin at 10:00am, St. Augustin Catholic Church, 545 42nd Street, Des Moines, Iowa 50312, with a reception to follow in the fellowship hall. Interment at Woodland Cemetery, Des Moines will take place after lunch.
ILES DUNN'S CHAPEL
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