Steve "The Wood Guy" McGuire

Stephen (Steve, Mac, Wood Guy) was born in Los Angeles, CA to Sue Ella (Wade) McGuire and Arthur William McGuire.  At the age of 12, he joined his sister, Barbara Jean McGuire (Smith) in Winston, OR where his father had remarried to Phebe adding two more sisters, Helen Lee and June Dale. After graduating from Douglas H.S. in Winston he joined the Air Force where he became a radar technician, primarily serving at the base in Gettysburg, S.D. He then attended Oregon State University where he studied engineering, history, philosophy, among other subjects.  Anyone who knew Steve, knew he was a life-long student, absorbing information with a voracious appetite and always ready for more - even to the point of reading the encyclopedia for fun.  You can imagine how computers and the internet thrilled him!!!!

At OSU, Steve met his second wife, Diana, while still in the throes of divorcing his first.  Unlike the first, this marriage lasted for nearly 50 years.  Steve and Diana had two children, Stacy Sue and Russell Wade. 

Having developed an interest in wine making at OSU, the couple moved to Roseburg, OR, touted to be akin to the best wine growing areas of Europe with the idea of their own vineyard.  That wasn't to be. A visit to friends in Dubois, Wyoming resulted in moving and buying a water well business. 

Before, during and after college, Steve had worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad, and was just months shy of retirement benefits with them.  He had hoped to finish that up in Wyoming.  Again, life had other ideas and that wasn't to be.

In 1973, Western Wyoming Water Well, Inc. was born.  But, water wells in Dubois didn't pay, though seismic exploratory drilling for gas and oil did.  So, the McGuires, who had added a daughter, Stacy, in 1974, went on the road, drilling all over Wyoming, Colorado, North Dakota, Utah, Nevada, Montana, and Washington.  When, son, Russell, arrived in 1977, the family decided they'd had enough of travel, sold WWWW and moved to Winston, OR, where he sold fraternal life insurance and dabbled in old coins and stamps with his dad. 

In 1979, the family moved to the outskirts of Roseburg.  The economy wasn't doing well at that time, so Steve did all kinds of sales work to keep the family going, including joining the Air National Guard, "for that $100/month," as he often said.  Eventually, he went full time with the Guard and the family moved to Coquille, OR to be closer to the base in Coos Bay.  When the base closed in 1996, they moved to Klamath Falls, OR where he worked at Kingsley ANG Base until he retired in 2004 after 21 years of service. 

After retirement, needing to be closer to extended family, the couple made one last move in late 2004 to Lyons, OR, to what Diana called their "Little Bit of Heaven."  Here the Wood Guy was born.  Two mobile sawmills and a love for all things wood and helping others, resulted in beautiful tables of all kinds, benches, jewelry boxes, chess sets, pens, garden trellis's, lumber and slabs for folks from their own trees making memories and recycling wood that might have just been burnt up for heat.  For 16 years, Steve reveled in wood. 

How does one sum up Steve - words aren't adequate; a beekeeper who raised bees, processed honey and taught students in the classroom about their fascinating lives; a mechanic who fixed any and everything and taught home schoolers small engine repair; a wine maker, including mead from honey; photographer; a horticulturist who grafted fruit trees; a musician who sang, played guitar, harmonica and dulcimers (which he handcrafted from scratch); an electronic technician and associate degree graduate who taught students at SWOCC in Coos Bay; a restorer of old cars and trucks; a restorer/remodeler of old homes; a major history and philosophy buff and teacher - ask his kids and nine grand-kids; a candle maker; a published feature writer in the SWOCC newspaper; an old coin buff; a geology lover; a short term logger for Triple R Logging; a problem solver extraordinaire - Mr. Fix It - Handyman - Jack of All Trades - a Jewel of a Man - Definitely a Keeper!!!!

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