Louis Joseph McGuinness, Rest in Peace

The Washington Post published the following obituary on 3 October 2007:

MCGUINNESS LOUIS J. McGUINNESS Capt. USA (Ret.) Of 1263rd Engineer Combat Battalion, LOUIS J. McGUINNESS of McLean, VA, on Tuesday, October 2, 2007. Beloved husband of Wanda O. McGuinness and the late Dolores Dalton McGuinness; father of Moira McGuinness and the late Mark McGuinness; stepfather of Michael, Mark and Jerry O'Dell; brother of Nell Therese Oliver and Jean Seward and the late Mary Agnes Landers, John, James and David McGuinness. Also surviving are 13 stepgrandchildren and 62 nieces and nephews. Friends may call at the MURPHY FALLS CHURCH FUNERAL HOME, 1102 W. Broad Street (Rt. 7), where the family will be present from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, October 5, and where prayers will be said at 6:30 p.m. Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Saturday, October 6 at 11 a.m. at St. John the Beloved Catholic Church, 6420 Linway Terrace, McLean, VA. Graveside services will be held on Tuesday, December 11 at 1 p.m. at Arlington National Cemetery with Full Military Honors. Family requests contributions may be made to Capital Hospice, P.O. Box 1576, Merrifield, VA. 22116-1576

A well done obituary, but it barely touches on the man and his qualities that made him so endearing. Uncle Louis was an amiable and cultured man. In chatting with him you would be swept through a dazzling array of political, economic, social, and religious topics on which he would more than hold his side of the conversation with brilliance and humor. It was a delight to ask his opinion on events in the news because he was so well informed. In a life marked with both joy and sorrow, Uncle Louis was indeed fortunate to have found the love and support of two great wives and to be able to rely on his charming daughter. If all of us could live our lives with half of the style of Uncle Louis, then we could indeed be counted as successes. He will be missed by all. Our deepest sympathies are extended to Wanda and Moira.

Emma Jane Conklin, MD, Rest in Peace

Obituary from the Desmond Funeral Home:

Emma Jane Conklin, MD
Born in Detroit, MI on Jun. 25, 1924
Departed on Mar. 13, 2007 and resided in Troy, MI.

EMMA JANE CONKLIN, M.D. ~~~ FORMER EXECUTIVE ADMINISTRATOR of WAYNE COUNTY GENERAL HOSPITAL (ELOISE)

Dr. Conklin, age 82, died Tuesday, March 13, 2007 at William Beaumont Hospital, in Royal Oak, Michigan. She was born June 25, 1924, in Detroit, to Charles and Mary (McGuinness) Conklin. She was a resident of Troy.

Education: Dr. Conklin earned a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Detroit, and subsequently a Medical Doctor Degree from University of Michigan Medical School in 1949. She was a “pioneer” graduate of the Medical School. She served her internship at St. Louis University Hospital.

Occupation: Medical Doctor. As an Executive Administrator at Wayne County General Hospital (formerly Eloise), Dr. Conklin was the only female to hold that position there. She remained at that hospital until it was sold. She practiced medicine until the end of 2006.

Dr. Conklin specialized in internal medicine, and in the 1950’s moved toward a specialty in nuclear medicine. Dr. Conklin loved to travel, especially to Scotland. She loved the history of Scotland, including its mason houses and castles. And she was an avid reader. She was a member of the Michigan Board of Medicine from 1984-1992.

Dr. Conklin was very family oriented – her family and medicine were her life. She loved to share her knowledge of medicine and mentored her niece to become a doctor. She maintained her dignity in a male-dominated profession.

Deceased Spouse: the late Norman A. Nelson, M.D.
Surviving Son: Erik Nelson
Surviving Brother: Charles Conklin, Sr. (Sheila)
Also: many loving nieces & nephews and great-nieces & nephews

Visitation: Friday, March 16, 2007, from 2-8 PM at A. J. Desmond & Sons Funeral Home, 2600 Crooks Road, Troy, MI (between Maple and Big Beaver Roads). Funeral Service: Saturday, March 17, 2007 – 11:00 AM at the funeral home, with Deacon Brian Carroll officiating Memorial Tributes may be made to: Beaumont Hospice, c/o The Beaumont Foundation, P.O. Box 5802, Troy, MI 48007-9620

Joseph McGuinness, Rest in Peace

Joseph Michael McGuinness, the son of the late John Peter McGuinness and Aileen Teresa (Moroney) McGuinness died unexpectedly on 6 January 2006 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Joe was born in Detroit on 15 July 1946. He served as a Medical Corpsman in the United States Navy during the Vietnam War. Navy Corpsmen serve as medics to the United States Marine and it was in this capacity that he was grievously wounded around 1967 in Vietnam. Many of us knew Joe as a quiet and serious fellow, but he also could be rather humorous. His brother Kevin remembers the time he won a life-size Raggedy-Ann doll at the school fair. The doll had strap-on feet so you could dance with it. He burst into the house and demonstrated his new acquisition to the great joy of his mother, though the younger kids were a little terrified by the odd looking date. Joe liked sports and camping, read voraciously, and could be both stubborn and adventurous according to Kevin. He will be missed by his siblings and his many cousins.

John Peter McGuinness, Rest in Peace

Obituary from the 26 October 2005 Detroit Free Press:

October 25, 2005 Of Fenton, age 92, died Monday, October 24, 2005 at Alterra Wynwood. Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 11AM Thursday, October 27, 2005 at St. John Catholic Church, 600 North Adelaide Street in Fenton, Father David Harvey officiating. Burial in St. John Catholic Cemetery with a military graveside service under the auspices of the Marine Corps League Flint Detachment #155 Honor Guard. Those desiring may make contributions to The Salvation Army or North End Soup Kitchen. Visitation 5-8PM Tuesday, 11-2 and 5-8PM Wednesday at the Swartz Funeral Home, 1225 West Hill Road. A rosary will be prayed at 7PM Wednesday evening at the funeral home. Mr. McGuinness will be at the church from 10:30AM Thursday until the time of the Mass. He was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on May 29, 1913, the son of John and Nellie McGuinness. He married Aileen Moroney on August 12, 1944 in Brooklyn, New York and she preceded him in death on June 2, 1993. He was a very active member at St. John's of Fenton and was very active in the Befrienders Ministry. John Peter McGuinness joined the Marine Reserves on April 1, 1936 and became a 2nd Lieutenant on graduating from the University of Detroit in 1938. In November, 1940 he was called to active duty as a 1st Lieutenant and became part of the newly formed 1st Marine Division at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina, until the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Early in May, 1942 then-Captain McGuinness left Portsmouth, Virginia aboard the USS Electra as the commander of the advance engineering echelon of the 1st Marine Division, landing at Wellington, New Zealand early in June to prepare a training camp. Plans changed with the discovery of a Japanese airfield under construction on Guadalcanal. When the full division arrived in Wellington, it promptly re-loaded its ships for combat, sailed up toward Fiji to join a naval group, and landed on Guadalcanal on August 7, 1942. Captain McGuinness was promoted to Major during his service on Guadalcanal and subsequently served as the executive officer of an infantry battalion during operations on New Britain. The 1st Marine Division then went to the Russell Islands, where McGuinness was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and put in command of the 1st Battalion. In August, 1944 he was ordered back to the United States to train engineering replacement units at Camp LeJeune. The following year Lt. Col. McGuinness was due to rejoin the 1st Marine Division on Okinawa in August to prepare for the invasion of Japan. However, the atomic bombings of Japan ended the war before he had to leave and he returned to civilian life in the autumn of 1945. Surviving are seven sons, John and wife Rosemarie of McLean, Virginia, Joseph of Ann Arbor, Kevin and wife Linda of Somerset, New Jersey, James and wife Christine of Saginaw, Paul and wife Sherrie of Grand Rapids, Thomas and wife Nancy of Alameda, California and Stephen of Holly; four daughters, Mary Rose MacMillan and spouse Dana Ellen MacMillan of Detroit, Aileen and husband Lenard Koziol of Commerce Township, Margaret and husband Erick Buchholz of Detroit, Kathleen and husband Dennis Hodges of Flushing; daughter-in-law, Lorraine McGuinness of Rosebush, Michigan; former son-in-law, Pat Prost of Livonia; 21 grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; brother, Louis and wife Wanda of McLean, Virginia; two sisters, Jean and husband Leslie Seward of Houston, Texas and Nell Oliver of Grosse Pointe, Michigan; a host of nieces and nephews. He was also preceded in death by his son, Eugene, in 1991; his parents; two brothers, David and James and sister, Mary Agnes Landers.