James McGuire Scholarship
Mary and Jane McGuire believed in giving. They were interested in progress and the good of the community. Mary preceded Jane in death by less than one year, and Jane’s will provided $200,000 for the James McGuire Scholarship in memory of their father; $50,000 for the Davie County Public Library Building Expansion; $10,000 to First UMC where the sisters were life-long members; $20,000 to Joppa Cemetery where they are buried; $5,000 for the Davie Family YMCA; $5,000 for the Triad Methodist Home in Winston-Salem; and $5,000 for UMCOR, the Methodist Relief Organization in Charlotte. The McGuire sisters were very interested in preserving Historic things so the Library was given the old McGuire home along with numerous books, antiques, and furnishings to create the Mary and Jane McGuire Library Fund. They were VERY charitable people!
The sisters were also partners – neither married. Jane cooked, Mary cleaned. Jane was more outgoing but Mary had a terrific sense of humor. They were both capable secretaries and bookkeepers. Jane served as secretary to the Superintendent of Schools, and Mary served the Agriculture Extension Agency. They both loved farming and antiques, reading and playing bridge. They managed money well. Both loved to travel and entertain.
The scholarship fund was especially important to the sisters because they were not able to go to college. Their father died when Jane was 15 months old. The local story is that the executor of their father’s estate played futures and lost their education money in the crash in the 1920’s. They were raised by their mother who after the loss could not afford to send the girls to college. Mrs. McGuire took female teachers as boarders, furnishing rooms and meals in the house on the corner of Salisbury and Lexington – currently the Howard Realty Office. The sisters are buried inside the rock wall at Joppa Cemetery.
The James McGuire Scholarship is available to a high school senior or college student who demonstrates academic ability and need for financial assistance.