A bright, shining meteor. A rock star. A kind soul. A firecracker. A free spirit. A great kid. These words and more were used to describe Jimmy McGuirl Jr. at the celebration of his life at the Caribbean Club in Key Largo on Feb. 20.
Or, as his family and friends put it, the party was “a celebration of one hell of a ride.” McGuirl passed away last month at the age of 29.
The day of the party was overcast and windy, with locals putting on jackets for warmth.
At about 3:30 p.m., guests for McGuirl’s memorial started arriving. Following directions from the invitation, they were dressed as rock groupies, wearing headbands, band tees, colorful embroidered vests and dresses, all manner of leather boots, and enough tie dye to rival a Grateful Dead show from back in the day.
A bar customer said to a party-goer, “My wife and I are from Pompano Beach, and we’ve been sitting here all day hanging out by the water. But suddenly, we’ve noticed so many beautiful people arriving. What is this gathering?”
Jimmy McGuirl probably would have loved that all the “beautiful people” were gathering while dressed in their Haight-Ashbury best. Friends and family all agree that McGuirl, who was born in 1991, would have been happy in a different era. According to his childhood friend Hayley Banks, he “should have been born in the ’50s so he could be 20 in the ’70s. And that’s that.” Banks helped McGuirl’s family to organize the celebration of life and create a GoFundMe account for the funeral and cremation.
At the beginning of the party, guitarist and singer Colin Christopher strummed some of McGuirl’s favorite tunes, such as “Melissa” by the Allman Brothers Band. “Jimmy gets all the sad songs today,” Christopher told the crowd.
A couple held hands and watched Christopher play, while longtime family friend Gina Rew sang along softly to each song. “I’ve known him since he was a baby,” she told Keys Weekly, explaining that she was friends with his parents, Aleisa and Jimmy Sr. They all met while working the Upper Keys restaurant scene. Jimmy Sr. was a hair stylist and also a musician like his son.
“He was a good kid,” Gina said about Jimmy Jr. “A great kid. He got excited about things. Music. Art. I have nothing profound to say except that he was a bright shining meteor. All the girls loved him. All the guys wanted to be him.”
“He embodied the word ‘rock star’ in everything he did, even before he played music,” said Christopher. “He liked to stir the pot.”
When McGuirl’s immediate family arrived at the party, the crowd stirred. Many stood up to give long hugs to his mother, Aleisa; his sister, Michelle; and his wife, Liz. Aleisa’s face lit up when she told Keys Weekly what McGuirl was like. “He was born in the wrong era. He was a Deadhead. He loved Wilco. He was an accomplished musician. He loved his wife very much. He loved skateboarding.”
He and his friends had named their band “The Sidewalk Surfers” after their mutual passion.
McGuirl’s wife, Liz McGuirl, said, “The Beatles were one of Jimmy’s favorite bands, and he lived his life following the motto of ‘All you need is love.’ The most amazing and beautiful thing about Jimmy was his heart. He has so much love inside of him and wanted to share it with anyone who would accept it.”
“He was an artist,” Aleisa said, pausing to show photos of his brightly pigmented canvases on her smartphone. “He didn’t come into his full being until he was 21. And then his sickness…” Her voice trailed off. She described receiving a phone call from her son-in-law that McGuirl had lost his years-long battle to mental illness in the early morning hours of Jan. 21.
Liz said McGuirl was a “sweet, troubled” soul who was never quite the same after his father passed away unexpectedly of cancer in 2015. McGuirl “struggled with his mental health for years, but would never agree to seek help, despite the endless pleading of those closest to him,” Liz said.
At the celebration, McGuirl’s best friend, Dillon Endico, took the mic. He spoke from his heart, sitting on the steps leading up to the Caribbean Club’s outdoor stage. He wore a “Sidewalk Surfers” band tee. At times, while sharing memories of Jimmy, he lapsed into silence. While friends and family waited patiently, palm trees shook in the breeze.
“He gave us something bigger than parking spaces, bills and deadlines,” Endico said finally. “He spoke of being grateful to be alive. And also the fact that Jimmy had art and music. It was beautiful to watch him put that out there. It goes deeper than bandannas and long hair.”
Friends’ reminiscences also had moments of levity. “Without Jimmy, there was no story. I would have been the same boring kid doing the same boring things,” said one friend at the mic, pointing out that McGuirl would often instigate his friends to get into mischief.
“‘Yeah, that sounds like a good idea,’” the friend recalled saying to McGuirl. “‘Let’s see what happens…’”
“With mom to bail you out!” Aleisa shouted from the crowd, to laughter.
“You’ve all made ripples,” continued the friend, gesturing toward the crowd. “Some of you dropped pebbles. But Jimmy dropped boulders in my life.”
Family friend Gina Rew said at one point during the party, “Some people shine too bright for this world. It’s a cold, angry world.”
For readers who are fighting a battle with mental illness like McGuirl did, there is help. The National Suicide Prevention Hotline 800-273-TALK is available 24/7 to assist people at risk of harming themselves and anyone in distress who needs support, prevention, and crisis resources. The Monroe County Behavioral Health Crisis also has a 24/7 hotline: 305-434-7660 press 8.
The GoFundMe account for Jimmy McGuirl’s funeral and cremation is https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-with-the-move-to-the-great-gig-in-the-sky.
