Mary Kathryn McGuire

Mary Kathryn McGuire, Ph.D., passed away at home in Carbondale, IL on March 19, 2025. Mary was the third of seven children born to Mae and William McGuire in Cedar Rapids, IA, where she graduated from LaSalle High School. She earned a BA in Humanities from the University of Minnesota (Twin Cities), and MA in Human Services (Gerontology) from the University of Illinois (Springfield) and an MA and PhD in American Culture from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor). Mary’s interdisciplinary research was one of five recipients of the Rackham School of Graduate Studies Distinguished Dissertation Awards selectively nominated from dissertations across all disciplines in 1997.

Mary enjoyed experiencing and exploring new places, spending many years traveling, living, and working in various countries. She hitchhiked across much of Canada, the US, Mexico, and Europe; later trekking throughout Germany, France, Austria, and Switzerland along the network of European Long-Distance Hiking Trails that took her into unique corners of these countries, hiking across mountainous areas, through rural locales, small towns, and major cities. Mary lived at various times in Germany, but particularly enjoyed living in Berlin and working as a bi-lingual editorial assistant while doing her doctoral research.

Mary worked for the State of Illinois as a Senior Public Service Administrator, where she took on a variety of tasks tied to her background in gerontology. Prior to that, she taught part-time at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) before taking a tenure-track position at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, IL. Mary’s first passion was teaching at the college-level, especially working with the many regional first-generation college students at SIUC who, like herself, made a commitment to realize their dream of a higher education degree while both working to support themselves and attend classes. Words cannot fully express the appreciation she always felt for the diverse population of Salukis who taught her to become a true educator and mentor.

Mary expressed her deepest gratitude to the medical teams at Washington University and the Siteman Cancer Center in St. Louis who cared for her during her illness, to the trio of gifted healing arts practitioners in Carbondale who supported her during this time, as well as to the wonderful staff at Southern Illinois Hospice. She was so appreciative of the many friends and family members who regularly stayed in touch and kept her in their thoughts and well-wishes during the past several years. There are too many to name individually, but Mary wanted to share a special thanks to her sister, Terri Glynn, for her unwavering and constant support, as well as to her dear friend, Beth Wagner, who undertook so much of her care at home in addition to driving her to St. Louis for numerous treatments and appointments for more than two years. She always said that Beth and Terri were much more that a support system – they truly were her angels on earth and mere words could never fully express her gratitude to them.

Local arrangements are through Meredith Funeral Home in Carbondale, with a private inurnment at Mt. Calvary Cemetery in Cedar Rapids. At her request, there is no formal memorial service. 

If someone wishes to make a donation, Mary’s personal interests were in programs supporting animal rights and rescue, food and housing insecurity, as well as human and immigration rights. We need more than ever to build and strengthen our communities with compassion, love and kindness. Mary always said the most important thing to her was the hope she had in her own small way made the world a better place for all. Namaste.