James J. Maguire, Sr.

James "Jim" Maguire, born in 1934 in Philadelphia, was the fourth of six children. His father graduated from high school, but college was not financially possible for him. He was the son of Irish immigrants, and he worked as an insurance salesman at the time of Maguire's birth.

Maguire's mother was a nurse. "I was born at the height of the Depression," says Maguire, "and my parents weren't earning a lot of money, but we were lucky they had jobs."

The family rented a row house in Upper Darby, and because of the limited income, his mother refused to turn the heat above 62 degrees in the winter and made sure to keep lights off when no one was in the room. "Our home had an icebox in those days," says Maguire, "and I remember running with my brothers and sisters behind the iceman's wagon on hot summer days to pick up and eat stray ice chips."

From an early age, Maguire always had a paper route or some other paying job such as shagging golf balls at the country club. When he was old enough to carry a bag for 18 holes, Maguire caddied. He turned all his earnings over to his mother, who kept detailed financial records for each child. "I learned quickly to be thrifty and remain so to this day," he says. "If I wanted a baseball glove or sneakers, my mother took me shopping and deducted the amount I spent from my account."

In 1941, when Maguire was seven, his father was promoted to a field training position with Met Life in Albany, New York, and the family moved about 10 miles outside Albany to Averill Park, a small, mostly dairy-farming community of about 300. There, they rented a semi-detached house next to St. Henry's Catholic Church, where they attended Mass every Sunday and where Maguire served as an altar boy. Their home included five acres of tillable land, and they grew vegetables and raised chickens.

"We worked hard, and when our chores were done, we played hard," he says. The Crystal Lake Amusement Park was near their home, and Maguire and his siblings saw it as a potential place to find work. Successful in securing jobs, Maguire collected tickets for the merry-go-round, his brother rented boats, and his sisters worked in the bathhouse and concession stand. Maguire also trapped muskrats, for which he earned $3 a pelt.

In 1947, another promotion for his father took the Maguires to Rochester, New York. Shortly before that move, the newest member of the family, a one-week-old baby, died. "That was so sad," he says, "but we all comforted each other."

From the beginning, Maguire struggled in school, especially with reading and spelling. He was required to repeat the third grade, but his poor report cards did not elicit much of a response from his parents or teachers. In 1949, Maguire's father received yet another promotion, requiring another move, this time to Utica, New York. Maguire attended six schools in 10 years and could barely read.

Arriving in Utica, he attended St. Francis de Sales High School, which had smaller class sizes, and Maguire received some one-on-one tutoring that improved his grades somewhat. At St. Francis, he would discover his special talent, basketball. "I was influenced athletically by my father, who encouraged me to always be an aggressive leader on the court," he says.

During his senior year, Maguire was co-captain of his basketball team, which won the city championship. It pleased him that his father made time to come to every game. "He would show up in his coat and tie and cheer me on," says Maguire. "We had long discussions after my games, dissecting all the plays. He had always been my anchor, but he grew more important to me during those moments of shared experience and insight. He always told me to believe in myself."

A week before his graduation, Maguire's father was hospitalized with spinal meningitis. On graduation night, Maguire went out with his friends, and when he came home at two in the morning, his mother and siblings told him his father had died that night at the age of 45.

"My mother was inconsolable, and we kids were confused and scared," says Maguire. "Shortly thereafter, I knew I was expected to act like a man and help take responsibility for the family. But I was gripped by a combination of sadness, fear, and loss of direction. It was my father who had given me confidence and taught me to believe in myself. He was my compass."

Relatives encouraged Maguire's mother to return with the children to their hometown of Philadelphia, which she did. Maguire received a basketball scholarship to Niagara University, an all-male Catholic school. He also received a work-study scholarship that covered his living expenses. As a freshman, he made the varsity basketball team, but he was homesick and still grieving for his father. Academically, he was not performing well, and at the end of his first semester his GPA was 1.7. He was put on academic probation and was not allowed to play basketball.

"After talking things over with my mother, we decided it would be better if I went to school closer to home," says Maguire. "I was accepted on a trial basis to Saint Joseph's University, an all-male Jesuit commuter school in Philadelphia."

Maguire got a job pumping gas, but his academic problems continued to plague him. One weekend he went to the Jersey shore with friends, and they got into a scuffle that landed all four of them in jail for disorderly conduct. Maguire's mother had to pay a $350 bond to free him. "My mother barely spoke to me the rest of the summer," he says. "I gave her all my earnings to pay her back."

In 1954, Maguire's draft notice arrived. Maguire went to Father Sullivan at Saint Joseph's to get a student deferment, but before he would give it to Maguire, he insisted on speaking to the boy's mother. "My report card had four Ds and one F," he says. "I changed the Ds to Bs and the F to A and resealed the envelope. My mother was overjoyed at my progress, but when she went to the deferment meeting with Father Sullivan, she discovered my dishonesty. Having lost all credibility with both of them, they decided it would be best if they allowed me to be drafted. Actually booting me out of my home and university turned out to be one of the best things anyone ever did for me. Seeing how I hurt my mother was a lasting lesson of the importance of integrity."

The regimentation, discipline, and physical challenges of the military helped Maguire mature. He was sent to Camp Zama outside Yokohama, Japan, headquarters of the 8th Army. He had a desk job and played competitive basketball. He also enrolled in a correspondence course with the University of California, taking reading and comprehension, which he passed with a C.

In 1956, Maguire completed his service duty, returned to Philadelphia, and gave college a third try. He lived modestly and supported himself on the $165 per month he received under the GI bill. He lived at home and paid rent, and he promised his mother he would earn a college degree with a 3.0. "To put my relationship on a new footing, one based on mutual respect, I began calling her Ruth instead of Mother," he says.

When Maguire went to Saint Joseph's, he met Father Guthrie, an early pioneer in the study of learning disabilities and dyslexia, and asked for help with what is now understood to be dyslexia, the cause of Maguire's difficulties. With Guthrie's help, Maguire's reading gradually improved. In the spring of 1957, he made the dean's list. To support himself, he had a job hanging vertical blinds, and he also had a paper route.

Later that year, Maguire married Frances "Frannie" McLaughlin. He had $1,050 in the bank. They rented a third-floor walk-up apartment in Germantown, and Maguire continued his studies. He graduated in 1958 with a degree in business and a 3.0 GPA.

The insurance business appealed to Maguire, as did following in his father's footsteps. He joined Met Life in 1958 and worked in the same office in which his father had started his career 30 years earlier. He set himself a goal of making the Million Dollar Roundtable. With only 20 weeks to qualify, he reached his goal in just 13 weeks, a feat only 175 out of 29,000 salesmen were able to accomplish.

Eighteen months later and with a baby on the way, he opened Maguire Insurance Agency Inc. His next creative idea was to package car insurance with car leasing agreements, which led to his capturing the auto leasing market in his region. In 1969, the agency landed its first nationwide account, providing auto leasing insurance for Chevrolet dealers.

On the strength of this program, Maguire Insurance Agency expanded to 15 offices across the country by the mid-1970s. The company formed Philadelphia Insurance Companies in 1987, and it expanded the offering of insurance to General Motors dealers and airport rent-a-car companies nationwide, as well as nonprofit social service agencies and health and fitness clubs, niches that continued to remain at the core of its business.

After going public in 1993, the company would eventually grow to employ 1,600 people in 50 offices across the country. In 2008, the company merged with Tokio Marine Group in what marked one of the largest transactions for financial firms in Japanese history.

Maguire has written a book about his life called Just Show Up Every Day. In it he outlines his six steps to success: "Show up every day. Set goals and have dreams. Success is a marathon. Be passionate and positive about your dream. If you don't love it, you'll never make it. Be a high achiever. Only you know if you are giving the full measure of your effort. Stay physically fit and mentally positive and motivated. Surround yourself with winners, both in your professional and personal life. Balance your life. Give an equal measure of time and attention to family, fitness, and spiritual life."

Of his success, Maguire says. "I was a natural salesman, blessed with a solid business education, and grounded in Jesuit training, which has served as my moral compass. My education taught me the nonnegotiable standards of integrity, professionalism, physical fitness, and fair play. My wife and children inspired me to believe and achieve. They, more than anything or any other person, have made me proud to be a husband, father, and mentor."

Frannie and Jim Maguire are co-principals of the Maguire Foundation, which focuses primarily on education. The Maguire Scholars Program funds more than 1,000 scholarships a year to needy children at 16 elementary schools, 24 high schools, and 23 universities in the Mid-Atlantic. The Maguires are the principal donors to their alma maters, Saint Joseph's University and Gwynedd Mercy University, where they've donated more than $30 million toward campus expansion campaigns.

In May 2024, James Maguire was presented with an honorary doctorate of humane letters degree from Bowie State University at the school’s commencement ceremony in appreciation for his unwavering support of the school and its students.