Expand<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cThank you for this honor,\u201d Maguire said as she dabbed at her teary eyes with tissues.\u00a0 \u201cThank you for the gift of today. I am overwhelmed.\u00a0 What an honor to be among so many people I admire and love.\u201d\u00a0 In the audience were her husband, Tom Maguire, and their sons, Daniel Rushing and Patrick Maguire.<\/p>\n
The Rick Rackers, organizers of this annual event, were founded in 1942 by Winifred Campbell who had been the first president of the Assistance League in 1940.\u00a0 She helped 25 young women gather in service to the community as an auxiliary.<\/p>\n
One of their first efforts was rolling bandages for the Red Cross\u00a0 during World War II.\u00a0 The women wore white pinafore aprons decorated with red rick rack braid which gave the group its unique name.<\/p>\n
Today their main endeavor is to provide school uniforms to needy Long Beach children.\u00a0 Over 12,000 children received this benefit through Operation School Bell this school year.<\/p>\n
In 1955, the Rick Rackers began honoring women for their exemplary volunteer work and calling it Woman of the Year. \u00a0 There were no events in 2015 because of an event scheduling change and in 2021 because of the Covid pandemic.\u00a0 It\u2019s traditional for the previous recipients to attend each year so they can welcome the new honoree into their ranks.\u00a0 Of the 26 living women who have been named Woman of the Year in the past, 19 were in attendance to congratulate Maguire.<\/p>\n
Flash back through the list of 70 women who have received this honor and it\u2019s like a who\u2019s who of movers and shakers in the history of this city.<\/p>\n
David Zanatta, a retired marketing executive,\u00a0 said he was delighted that he got to sit at a table of past Woman of the Year honorees at the luncheon.\u00a0 Having moved to Long Beach in 1985, he feels he grew by knowing these various women and their efforts and said, \u201cThe accumulation of knowledge, experience, commitment and service of these women is much responsible for the Long Beach we have today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maguire began her speech by saying it was perfect that the WOY honor came during Women\u2019s History Month.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe honor women who do more than is comfortable or convenient, women who work hard to make things better for our children, our families, for people from all backgrounds and neighborhoods.\u00a0 Women who love big,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cWe are so blessed to live in a community that\u2019s a family \u2014 a complex, multi-layered and sometimes messy family, yes \u2014 but Long Beach is a place where people watch out for each other and care, a place to call home\u2013my home since 1960 when my family moved here from Kansas.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said she attended her first WOY event in 1987 when Beverly Lewis O\u2019Neill was honored with the award for her work at Long Beach City College and in the community.\u00a0 In 1994 O\u2019Neill was elected mayor of Long Beach and served three terms.<\/p>\n
At that time Maguire was 38, working full time as a marketing manager and was active with the Long Beach Junior League.\u00a0 She said she was excited about O\u2019Neill being honored because O\u2019Neill\u2019s mother, Flossie Lewis, befriended and mentored Maguire\u2019s mother, Clara Holden, at an Al-Anon meeting in the 1960s.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeverly was someone I looked up to as a teenager, at a time when I knew few women who had careers outside the home,\u201d Maguire said.\u00a0 \u201cShe was a role model and encouraged me.\u00a0 She continues to inspire me today, and I miss her here with us now.\u00a0 She would have loved all this fuss!\u201d<\/p>\n
Maguire singled out people she had worked with over the years, including the Long Beach League for John Tracy Clinic, the Junior League, Leadership Long Beach (which she helped found), the Rotary Club and the City of Long Beach Public Utilities.<\/p>\n
Last but not least, she thanked her friends from St. Anthony High School, including the president Christine Tucker.\u00a0 Maguire graduated from St. Anthony\u2019s, the only Catholic high school in Long Beach, in 1967 and became president of the school in 2002.<\/p>\n
She is credited with saving the school from closing, which some called a miracle.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember feeling so unprepared at the time,\u201d she told the guests.\u00a0 \u201cI had absolutely no experience leading a school.\u00a0 The stakes were high.\u00a0 What if all my best efforts weren\u2019t enough to save St. Anthony from closure?\u201d<\/p>\n
She said it was the encouragement of friends like Marlene Moncure and Janey Roeder who gave her the courage to try.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything we have comes to us through people,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cI was lucky enough to be born into a family where I was loved and encouraged from the start to develop my God-given gifts and use them.\u00a0 I so wish my parents, Roy and Clara Holden, could be here today, because so much of who I am is them \u2026 I learned to trust myself and risk, even when I was afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n
After rebuilding St. Anthony\u2019s, Maguire decided to step away from the school in 2021 \u201cready to let go and let others lead, even though I was unsure what was next.\u00a0 Little did I know how my life was, once again, about to change.\u201d<\/p>\n
Just eight months after her retirement, in February 2022 her husband, Tom, and she were in a car accident, which, at first, they thought was minor, but over the coming weeks it became clear something was very wrong.<\/p>\n
\u201cTom was taking blood thinner medication and, unknown to us, the accident had jostled his head and started a slow brain bleed, an intracranial hemorrhage requiring surgery to save his life.\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cHe was hospitalized for 20 months with complication after complication and finally released to come home 2 \u00bd years ago.\u00a0 Today, Tom is, miraculously here, disabled yes, but still recovering and growing stronger..\u201d\u00a0 She pointed to Tom who was sitting in a wheelchair at<\/p>\n
her table with his caregiver, Ave Malagamali\u2019l sitting next to him.\u00a0 The audience responded with loud applause.<\/p>\n
Maguire said her audience had figured out that her current job was \u201cyet another unexpected career change that I felt hugely unprepared for.\u00a0 I am now a caregiver.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maguire said that caring for someone you love \u201cis by far the most heartbreaking and challenging work I\u2019ve ever done in my life.\u00a0 And it is also the most meaningful and rewarding.\u00a0 Today, I clearly see that the last four years have brought so many accidental gifts.\u00a0 And, I am finally, fully living in the present, one day at a time.\u00a0 My mother would be so proud.\u201d<\/p>\n
When she ended her talk, the audience gave her a rousing, second standing ovation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gina Rushing Maguire has been called a miracle worker and a saint among her many accolades in her…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":240295,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[7,23,131,133,132,137,741,136],"class_list":{"0":"post-240294","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-long-beach","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-local-news","10":"tag-long-beach","11":"tag-long-beach-headlines","12":"tag-long-beach-news","13":"tag-los-angeles-county","14":"tag-rich-archbold-columns","15":"tag-top-stories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=240294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240294\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/240295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=240294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=240294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=240294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"From](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/LPT-L-ARCHBOLD-COL-0329-DK-06.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"Gina](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/LPT-L-ARCHBOLD-COL-0329-DK-05.jpg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n![\"Gina](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/LPT-L-ARCHBOLD-COL-0329-DK-01.jpg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n![\"Gina](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/LPT-L-ARCHBOLD-COL-0329-DK-03.jpg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n![\"Gina](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/LPT-L-ARCHBOLD-COL-0329-DK-02.jpg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n![\"Gina](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/LPT-L-ARCHBOLD-COL-0329-DK-04-1.jpg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n