McGuire, E. Irene.

Born on Aug. 18, 1932 in Cobden, IL. Irene's parents were fruit farmers, but in the midst of the Great Depression, her father lost the farm. Eventually Irene married Daniel McGuire, the son of an orchard owner. Irene and her husband moved into an old home on the farm, which was founded in 1820. Irene soon began to learn the family business. Fern McGuire, her mother-in-law, and Irene kept the books for the farm. Eventually Irene and her husband found themselves taking over the entire 800 acre fruit and livestock operation. In the 1980's Irene and her husband saw themselves in a difficult situation. The past seven years had yielded no peach crop and everything on the farm had been put up for collateral. In the end, the government told the McGuire family that they had to either try to sell the farm or declare bankruptcy. After numerous attempts at trying to sell the farm as a whole, they eventually sold off the farm in sections. Portions of their former land was used for a housing development, while other parcels are still in use as an orchard, run by a large fruit company.