Farewell and Godspeed Bobbie Lue Meigh McGuill 04/26/1930 - 08/09/2020

Sunday evening my beautiful mother, Bobbie Lue Meigh McGuill, left this world to continue her next journey. It came as a shock to our family that she was dying. That may seem hard for some people to believe because my mom was 90 years old, but Bobbie Lue was sharp, witty, and a colorful storyteller up until the end.

My mother was adamant that I finish Terry’s story and graduate with my M.A. I laughed when she asked me if I would continue to go to school and get my Ph.D. She said she would, “Get a kick out of calling me Dr. McGuill.” I had to tell her I didn’t think that would be a promise I could keep, but I would absolutely finish Terry’s story.

Writing isn’t coming as easily since my mother passed. It’s painful. I’m writing a story about a life she lived and I miss her terribly. My mother was the last survivor of Terry’s story. My grandparents passed away before I was born, and the Higa family, imprisoned at Heart Mountain, have passed away. Two families who could give us their personal insights into the Japanese internment are gone. I realize I’m not only mourning the loss of my mother but the loss of the people who passed without their stories being told.

I’m grateful to so many of you for making this website and biography possible. It was important to my mother that she find out what happened to Terry. She wanted to make sure Terry had a good life upon her release from Heart Mountain. Mission accomplished, Mom.

Again, I urge anyone who has a story about the internment to please contact me so that I can add your story to the Beyond Barbed Wire website. Through storytelling, we can keep the memory of our loved ones alive and help others do the same.

Bobbie Lue Meigh McGuill - Yosemite Park 2016