Emily Jo Adams McGuire died August 8, 2025, from complications of stroke in 2020. Her death was reported by her daughter, Susan K. McGuire, MD, who said, “My mother’s legacy is the profound impact on the students she taught in her 40 years as a teacher, her community, her church and her family.”
Mrs. McGuire was born on April 18, 1930, to Avis Oreen Anderson Adams and Solomon Clinton Adams. She graduated from Paducah Tilghman High School and was the first in her family to attend college. Mrs. McGuire’s father told her: “You can be a teacher or a nurse, but you must attend a Baptist college,” and so she started her post-secondary education at Bethel College. McGuire continued her studies, graduating with a master’s degree in education from Peabody College (now part of Vanderbilt University) in Nashville, Tennessee.
In addition to teaching in the classroom Mrs. McGuire was on air for WPSD’s Romper Room for years. Paducah children in the 1960s and 1970s knew Mrs. McGuire as “Miss Emily.” She later opened Jack & Jill kindergarten in Lone Oak.
Part of President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty program in 1965 included a commitment to providing pre-school children of low-income families to help break the cycle of poverty. Mrs. McGuire opened the first Head Start program in Paducah. The Paducah Head Start/Preschool is still an active and vibrant organization today.
After retiring from teaching in 1984 Mrs. McGuire began her second career with McGuire Realty, working with husband Mickey McGuire and son Charles McGuire. During this time, she also served as the representative of Broadway Methodist Church to the United Methodist Conference and taught classes to senior citizens through an AAA program. In 2008 she achieved the rank of Life Master in the American Contract Bridge League.
“Long before the term feminist was coined my mother was a living embodiment of the term,” said son Richard McGuire.
Mrs. McGuire was preceded in death by her parents Avis Oreen Adams and Solomon Clinton Adams and her husband of 41 years R.C. “Mickey” McGuire Jr. She is survived by daughter Susan McGuire, M.D. of Chattanooga, Tennessee; sons Richard McGuire of Arlington, Virginia and Charles McGuire of Nashville, Tennessee; and six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
Visitation will be on Saturday August 16, 2025, from 11:00 am- 1:00pm at Milner & Orr Funeral Home of Paducah on 120 Memorial Drive. Funeral Services will be held at 1:00 pm. Contributions in Mrs. McGuire’s honor could be made to Broadway United Methodist Church where Mrs. McGuire was active member for 70 years. https://bumcpaducah.org
Share a memory or leave a message for the family at www.milnerandorr.com.
