Linda Mcguinness

Linda Kay Britt McGuinness, 66, of Tar Heel, passed away peacefully at home on Tuesday, September 21 after an eight-year battle with frontal temporal dementia. Kay is survived by her husband, Michael McGuinness, her brother Steve, sisters Doris and Catherine, and nieces and nephews.

Kay was born on February 21, 1955, in Bladen County; to the late Joseph Herbert Britt and Pearline Brisson. She is preceded in death by her parents.  She grew up in Dublin and graduated from East Bladen High School in 1973.  Kay graduated from UNC-Pembroke in 1978 and embarked on a distinguished thirty-year career as an educator.  Kay served for twenty-eight years in the same classroom at the Plain View Elementary School in Tar Heel, mostly teaching the fifth grade.

Kay was widely recognized as an accomplished teacher who cared deeply for her students. Kay represented the best of humanity; she helped her family, neighbors, friends, students and families of students.  Kay also often extensively helped in her husband’s law practice, especially when a teacher or police officer needed assistance.

During her career, much of Kay’s time involved her supporting her students in and out of class. Kay’s other interests included her many chihuahuas, her Myrtle Beach condo and the beach there, the coast of Maine, her home and traveling.

The family will receive friends on Saturday, September 25, 2021, at 2:00pm at Purdie United Methodist Church in the fellowship hall, with a funeral service to follow at 3:00pm with Rev. Al Marshburn officiating. Burial will follow at the McMillan Cemetery in Elizabethtown, near Swanzy and Lower Streets.

The family respectfully requests that masks be worn at the service to avoid Covid risks.  The family suggests donations to the Lower Cape Fear Life Care.