Lucille McGuire: Bowler and Friend

Lucille McGuire passed away on October 18 in San Luis Obispo, where she lived near her daughter and grandchildren for the last several years. She was 92 years old. Lucille joined the Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club in 1983 and served the club as a board member and secretary for many years. She also worked on the coaching and hospitality committees.

Lucille was born in Martinez, but was by all other measures a Berkeley native. She attended the University of California and raised a family on Ensenada Avenue in North Berkeley — just a short walk from her childhood home on the other side of Colusa Avenue. She liked to tell the story of her family piling into her father’s car and driving across the Bay Bridge the day it opened. Her father missed a turn, and they wound up driving to San Francisco on the lower deck, which was then just for passenger trains and large trucks (“He wasn’t a very good driver,” she would dryly remark.).

In some ways, Lucille was born into a Berkeley that began to disappear in the post-war era, but she cherished her hometown and knew Berkeley was special. She volunteered at the gift shop of Herrick Hospital, and she surprised several of us when she told us she had been involved in a protest at the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant (San Luis Obispo County) in the 80s. Lucille didn’t blink from doing what she thought was right.

As a bowler, she played competitively for many years. Her “little birdie” zero heavyweights were a welcome sight on the greens of the Bay Area. She eagerly signed up for tournaments and saved many teams’ chances with her delicate touch. As a second, she provided thoughtful advice on how to turn an end to her team’s advantage. As much as she enjoyed playing bowls, she also relished the camaraderie of friends. Several times after playing in the heat of Rossmoor, Lucille happily joined her Berkeley bowling mates at PJ’s (a dive in El Sobrante) to knock back a martini on the way home. In the BLBC clubhouse, she played an intense game of dominoes and helped keep the club’s hospitality committee running. She became something a card sharp at our monthly poker games, frequently coming out ahead in the money. There were affectionate groans around the table whenever she called her game: “No Peekie.”

Lucille married a veteran of World War 2, William McGuire, and she proudly accompanied Bill to many reunions of his Army Air Corps comrades. Bill died in 2003 (after over 50 years of marriage), and Lucille moved to San Luis Obispo to be closer to family a few years later (she was a proud parent and even prouder grandmother).

Lucille held her friends and herself to very high standards; you never had to wonder where you stood with her. She knew that a club like the BLBC depends on the diversity of its members: she did not have to agree with everyone she met (and she didn’t), but anyone who came to bowl earned her good will and respect. She was fiercely loyal to her family, friends, town, club, and game. We offer our condolences to Lucille’s family and remember Lucille fondly for her contributions to the history and the legacy of the Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club. Lucille’s and Bill’s ashes are buried in a plot at the San Francisco National Cemetery in the San Francisco Presidio, near her parents’ grave site and within easy view of the Golden Gate Bridge.