Born in Hamlin, TX in 1916, Mabel was married for 65 years to the late Malcolm Meguiar, who served as Chairman Emeritus of the Irvine-based car care products manufacturer. Malcolm was a chemist who, along with his father, Frank, Jr., formulated and perfect ed the polishes and cleaners upon which Meguiarís Inc. was founded more than 100 years ago.
A life-long resident of Pasadena, Mabel often reminisced about those early days when the family made furniture and car polishes one bottle at a time with an eggbeater in the familyís Pasadena garage. She loved to contrast those primitive early efforts to t he companyís current status, with corporate headquarters in Irvine, Calif., its state-of-the-art 200,000-square-foot production facility in Nashville, Tenn., and its ever-expanding global operations offering more than 300 products.
The Beach Boys, in concert at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion this past May for the annual Meguiarís Award, paid her a special tribute and then sang ìThe Little olí Lady from Pasadena.î
Mabel was a strong community leader in Pasadena, along with her husband who was one of the longest and most-active members of the famed Tournament of Roses. An enthusiastic organizer and a natural hostess, Mabel sponsored the first public appearance of the ìRose Courtî every October at the Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach.
She was also the oldest continuous member of Pasadenaís First Church of the Nazarene. Instrumental in creating the Del Rey Sunday School Class, Mabel was dedicated to her work with youth throughout the years and the churchís Meguiarís Youth & Family Life C enter was named in honor of her and husband Malcolm.
In 1991, Mabel and Malcolm were the first people ever named as Honorary Alumni of Pt. Loma Nazarene University (formerly Pasadena College). In 2002, on the Universityís 100th Anniversary, Mabel was presented with the Bresee Founders Award, given to only th ree other notables in the Universityís history ñ all of whom were former chaplains of the University.
Mabel Meguiar is survived by her sons Larry and Barry, the current president and CEO of Meguiarís Inc., five grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren. Funeral services were held at Pasadenaís First Church of the Nazarene on July 18, 2003, with graveside ser vices following at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, Calif.
