Roger McGuire 1938 - 2020

Pictured from left to right - John Smith, Roger McGuire, Bill Elliott, Ian Webster

Class 1C the Class of 1949

The life of Roger McGuire, who has died aged 81, was an inspiring example of triumph over adversity. Partly disabled by polio, which he contracted in his late teens, he went on to survive cancer, broken bones, and a variety of health scares to build a successful electrical engineering business and live a happy and fulfilled life with his wife, Carole, and two daughters at Greenham Common, near Newbury. Soon after their marriage, the couple had bought a dilapidated Victorian school house, which they spent every hour of their spare time converting into a desirable modern home.

Roger, a member of Abbey House, was at Glyn between 1949 and 54. After taking his GCEs, he left West Ewell, where he grew up, to move with his parents to Brighton. It was there that Fate played its cruellest hand. Ready to be called up for National Service in 1957, Roger, a keen gymnast, was hoping to serve his two years as a military PT instructor. A chance visit to a cinema resulted in him becoming one of six victims of the polio epidemic which was terrorising the country at the time.

He was one of only two survivors, although he was never to walk properly again. Doctors feared he would not live much beyond 40. But Roger, with his indomitable spirit, was to prove them wrong. One of his most joyous occasions in recent years was attending the Old Glynians’ annual dinner, when he would drive from Newbury to spend the evening reminiscing with old school friends.

Roger died in Basingstoke Hospital on 14 May 2020, five days after a fall. Bill Elliott, a lifetime friend who joined Glyn with him in 1949, commented: “To me, he was indestructible.”

Obituary kindly written by Roger's lifelong friend, Bill Elliott