Tom McGuire
Courtesy of the McGuire family
Tom "Tommy" McGuire liked being outside.
He often would take long walks near his Ypsilanti Township home, his wife and son said.
It was on one of these walks McGuire, 65, was struck and killed by a passing train in Ypsilanti sometime between 10 p.m. Nov. 22 and 9:30 a.m. Nov. 23, when railroad workers discovered his body 100 yards north of Forest Avenue.
Police continue to investigate and have narrowed it down to two trains going through the area in that time frame: a freight train and an Amtrak train.
In the meantime, those close to McGuire grieve for a man who loved his family and nature.
“He will be terribly missed by all of us,” said his wife Eva McGuire, known in the Ypsilanti area as “Corvair Lady." She owns six of the vehicles and is a regular at car shows in Depot Town.
Tom McGuire was born in Kentucky, but came to Ypsilanti when he was 8 years old. He worked at Ford Motor Company for 18 years before retiring, his family said. He has two sons, Tim and Nick, from a previous marriage and a daughter, Cheyenne, with Eva.
“He was passionate about the Lord and sharing his Christian beliefs,” Eva said in a statement. “He also enjoyed participating in his Native American heritage which included his love of nature and being an environmental activist opposing the use of pesticides and other toxic chemicals.”
McGuire’s funeral was held Wednesday.
A special account for the family has been set up through KeyBank. Deposits can be made at any branch into the account titled "Estate of Tom McGuire.” Checks made payable in the same estate name can be mailed to KeyBank, 301 W. Michigan Ave., Ypsilanti, MI 48197.
John Counts covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at johncounts@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.