Joseph McGuirk Obituary
Joe was born in Peabody, Mass. to Hugh McGuirk and Eileen McGuirk (nee Donnellan) on June 22, 1935. He grew up in Cambridge, Mass. and attended BC High. After serving in the US Army during the Korean Conflict, he joined the Teamsters (Local 122 and then Local 25), and remained a Teamster for the next 42 years, working at various trucking agencies, including Budweiser, Associated Transport, and Airco. He also served as a union driver for the film industry throughout New England, on such films as Coma, The Brink's Job, and Heaven's Gate. He took an early retirement to care for his wife Phyllis Jean (Jeannie) McGuirk (nee O'Brien), who was afflicted with spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA). Upon her passing, in 1999, he then devoted the next 25 years to the care of two of his children, who each inherited SCA.
Joe passed away October 3, 2025, at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge Mass., after a brief illness.
He is preceded in death by his aforementioned wife Jeannie, his eldest child Dorothy Ann (Dee Dee) Ryan (1964–2009) and his youngest child, Michael Patrick McGuirk (1970–2024).
He is survived by two sisters, Sister Christine Julie McGuirk SNDeN (Ann) and Mary Ellen McGuirk, his son Joseph McGuirk Jr, five grandchildren, and five great grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the National Ataxia Foundation
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