HOPKINTON - Donna M. McGuire, 68, died Sunday August 12, 2012 surrounded by family, after a courageous battle with cancer.  She was the loving wife of Frank J. McGuire, to whom she was married for 41 wonderful years.  Born in Poughkeepsie, NY, she was the daughter of the late Joseph Robert Marone and Helen Tuttle Marone of Poughkeepsie. 

Donna graduated from Poughkeepsie High School in 1962 and received her associate’s degree from Dutchess Community College in 1964.  She also received her paralegal certificate from Bentley College after moving to Boston in 1967.  

Her early employment was spent as executive secretary in the law firm of H,S, D, F & K. She then spent 13 years at home raising her daughter, Heather -- the love of her life.  Donna taught CCD at St. John the Evangelist Church, following Heather's religious education from pre-school through confirmation.  She was executive director of the Hopkinton Housing Authority for two years and was an early proponent of family low-income housing.

She returned to the workforce as a paralegal to Linda Christian, Esq, and an administrative assistant to William J. Picardi at the Design Showroom in Southborough.  In 1992 she went to work for Barbara Gilchrest, MD, chairman of dermatology at the Boston University School of Medicine in the south end of Boston.  She spent 18 years in that position, which she truly loved.

Donna was a natural fit for volunteering.  She had many happy and productive years spent donating her time and efforts to many worthwhile projects.  After her time at the Hopkinton Housing Authority, she became a commissioner of the Board of the HHA for approximately 10 years.  She was appointed as State Representative to the Board of Governor Deval Patrick in 2011.  She also volunteered at the Hopkinton Senior Center each week.  Donna was a part of the original Relay for Life team and was a top fundraiser and member of the Yankee Doodler team for over five years.   She was also a member of the Democratic Town Committee until her illness prevented her from doing the things she loved.

Donna will be sorely missed by all who knew her.  She considered herself blessed to have so many supportive, caring friends who gave her rides to appointments and cooked meals for her family while she was ill.  She wished to thank everyone involved for making her final days as peaceful as possible.  You know who you are.  

In addition to her husband Frank, and her mother Helen, Donna is survived by her only daughter Heather McGuire Bourke and her husband Toby Bourke of Marlborough, her step grandchild, Sierra of Shrewsbury, her sisters Joanne Domey and her husband Kenneth of Poughkeepsie, and Constance Deho of Melbourne, FL.  She also leaves several nieces and nephews.  

A memorial funeral Mass will be celebrated Saturday, August 18, 2012 at 10:30 a.m. at St. John the Evangelist Church, 20 Church Street, Hopkinton, MA.  Calling hours at the Callanan Cronin Funeral Home, 34 Church Street (http:www.callanancronin.com) are Friday, August 17 from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. 

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to American Cancer Society Attn: RFL of Hopkinton (Yankee Doodlers) 43 Nagog Park STE 110, Acton MA 01720  “In Memory of Donna McGuire.”

August 14, 2012 — No, this is not a flying boat, or George Washington crossing the Delaware, but part of a wind-surfing device being retrieved and returned to the boathouse at Hopkinton State Park by a staff member with a motorboat, which are banned on the reservoir for recreational puposes.

August 13, 2012 — Busy as beavers,  but much smarter, these machines working at the Wood Partners apartments site made quick work of land clearing last week. The machine in the left rear has a clamp that grabs any size tree and a saw to cut it a few inches from the ground. Then it swings it onto a pile it has made and the other red machine places it onto a trailer that it is towing, where it will move it to a pile for chipping. The machine in the foreground follows them around and rips up the stumps. A dozen or more large pieces of equipment on the site were in motion at all times, unless they were being loaded with something.

August 13, 2012 — This paving truck went over, or onto, the center line about ten times on East Main Street from Clinton Street to West Main at Lumber Street.

August 10, 2012 — Officer Philip Powers, who was doing traffic enforcement duty across from Walcott Street, let this driver off with a verbal warning today for a one-way street violation.

August 10, 2012 — Legacy Farms Principal Roy S MacDowell Jr looks over the development's sign that was shattered into pieces by a driver who left the scene. Some savvy police work led them to the individual and the vehicle involved.

August 9, 2012 — EMC, which stakes a claim as the world's largest maker of information storage and has its headquarters in Hopkinton, is seeking sewer abatements from the Town of Hopkinton for several  of its South Street parcels. The bulk of the land the company owns in Hopkinton is on South Street and Hayward Street. One parcel alone, 176 South Street is assessed for land and buildings at $51.9 million.

        The Town assessed betterments to the properties on South Street for sewer lines that pass by their properties, and in some cases, go to both the Milford sewer system at a premium rate, and to the Town-owned Fruit Street sewage treatment plant. EMC is arguing in some cases that they cannot hook up to a system, or cannot take part because the capacity is filled, or that they have a septic system that they installed because Hopkinton's sewer system was not available. They also plan to argue that they were double-assessed for some properties because they could not possibly utilize both the Milford and Hopkinton lines at the same time.

          On Monday, August 13,2012, at 6:30 pm, the Selectmen will hear arguments from the company, which reported in July second-quarter consolidated revenue of $5.31 billion and ended the quarter with $10.9 billion in cash and investments. It is unclear how much they will ask for in relief.

August 9, 2012 — Solar Flair, Hopkinton's choice for the Solarize Mass program, held a seminar and barbeque at 1 Knoll Road this evening. Above, Solar Flair representative Rosie Pagerey speaks with Woodville couple Philip and Carol Macagni about how an installation would work on their home.

     The owner of the home where the barbeque took place, Matt Arner, is the president of Solar Flair Energy and was featured in a HopNews video interview about the technology in 2005, a full two years before the company was even incorporated. See the YouTube version below: