Deceased January 17, 1985

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In Memory

On Jan. 17, 1985, Mike McGuire was killed when the small plane in which he was a passenger crashed in Johnson City, Tenn. Mike’s death, coming as it did on the eve of his pending marriage to Becky Campbell, as well as on the eve of the completion of his residence in orthopedics, was untimely. For me and for Mike’s family and dearest friends, to whom he meant and gave so much, it was especially tragic. Mike was my closest Amherst friend.

Mike came to Amherst from Northfield, Minn.—“the Heartland,” as he called it. While at Amherst and afterwards, he personified the best tradition of the liberal arts student. He was an English major who wrote his thesis on the poet James Merrill. Mike was also an avid sports enthusiast, including active participation in an intramural football team, Taki 183, as well as a member of the Amherst Rugby Club. Upon graduation from Amherst, Mike taught at the American School in Tangiers, Morocco, before deciding to attend medical school. He then enrolled in a one-year pre-med program at Columbia University before returning to the University of Minnesota Medical School.

Subsequent to graduation from medical school, Mike was selected for the residency program in orthopedics at NYU.

At the time of his death, Mike was doing a two-week orthopedics rotation in Columbia, S.C., in order to be close to Becky, his intended, who is a resident in internal medicine in Chapel Hill, N.C. The doctor with whom Mike was working in South Carolina was team doctor for the University of South Carolina basketball team and had asked Mike to fly to a basketball game in the doctor’s private plane. Unfortunately, on the return trip after the game, both engines failed and the plane crashed, killing Mike and the other doctor instantly.

Since graduation, Mike and I had stayed in contact on a regular basis. In fact, Mike and Becky were scheduled to visit me and Shelby the weekend after he was killed. I know at the time of his death Mike had never been happier, given his relationship with Becky and the near completion of his residency. Mike will be missed dearly.

Edward S. Shipper Jr. ’74