John Maguire

1952 - 2021

Dr. John Maguire
December 24, 1952 - May 30, 2021
Dr. John Maguire passed away peacefully on May 30, 2021, surrounded by his family and friends.

John was the beloved father of Sarah (Chad) Duffy and Audrey (Chris) Morley; grandfather of Maguire Duffy, 7, Charles Duffy, 5, Carrie Duffy, 2, and Cameron Morley, 1; brother of Angela Boyle, Eileen (Sean) Prendiville, Maura (David) Neuffer, Sheila (James) Burke, and Nicola (Dennis) Rampe-Maguire; and uncle to 18 nieces and nephews. He was formerly married to Pirkko Maguire (née Horo), the mother of his children.

John was predeceased by his brother Vincent, his mother Mary Ann (née McNicholl), and his father Francis Maguire.

John's was the quintessential immigrant success story. Born in Cheltenham in 1952, John attended primary and secondary school in England before immigrating to the United States on the Queen Mary in 1967. The Maguire family settled in San Mateo, California where John excelled academically, graduating from Serra High School at the age of 16. He received a scholarship to attend the University of California, Berkeley, where he received his bachelor's degree in biochemistry (1973). Immediately thereafter, John matriculated at the Loyola University of Chicago, Illinois, where he went on to earn his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree (1977).

An entrepreneur at heart, John pioneered the large group multi-specialty dental office concept, providing impressive quality and efficient delivery systems of care. He was among the first dental health providers to implement digital technology, using early computer systems to improve service delivery and patient care at Fremont Dental Group, a firm he co-founded in 1979. He was a founding member of the Association of Managed Care Dentists, an organization devoted to quality and a common voice of the provider to insurance companies. John also founded the Morgan Hill Dental Group and was the Chairman of Adax, Inc.

In addition to his dentistry career, John worked as a Medical Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and published over 30 scientific journal articles. He was a Director and Chief Financial Officer of the Oxygen Club of California, a non-profit scientific organization dedicated to enhancing education and promoting research in the field of oxidants, antioxidants, nutrition, micronutrients and free radicals in biology and medicine, with the goal of promoting human health.

In a brilliant third act, John stepped away from the daily practice of dentistry to attend the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University where he earned a Master of Public Health degree (MPH, 2005). Following the conferral of his MPH, John served as an Adjunct Research Professor at the University of Pittsburgh.

John's accomplishments in patient care and scientific discovery were matched by his loving devotion to his family and many friends across the globe. John was an avid traveler and forged lifelong friendships everywhere he went. John was the omnipresent center of his nuclear and extended family.

John wanted to personally thank Dr. Weiyun Ai, the entire UCSF Hematology and Oncology clinical team and the numerous blood and tissue donors. In lieu of flowers, the family encourages blood donations to your local blood bank, registration to BeTheMatch.org, or donations to support Dr. Ai's Lymphoma Research in memory of Dr. John Maguire. Donations can be made at https://makeagift.ucsf.edu/. You can direct your gift to a specific area and type in the designation, "Dr. Wei Ai Research Fund".