DORA McGINNESS, 91, longtime business owner and resident of Cairo, IL, passed away peacefully, Sunday, June 24, 2018, at the Chateau Girardeau in Cape Girardeau, MO, with her family at her side.

Born October 6, 1926, at Mt. Pleasant, IL, to the late John and Flossie Marie Brim McGinness, she had lived in Cairo, Illinois most of her life where she was a member of the First Southern Baptist Church.

Dora's favorite thing to do in life was work. Growing up in the depression and being the oldest of six children, she saw her parents struggle and her greatest desire in life was to lift all of them out of poverty. She was always optimistic and believed if she could work hard enough she could accomplish anything. Dora was sixteen when she got her first job at the Brown Shoe Factory in Anna, IL, and she described it as "the happiest day of her life." She was always early for work and being a shy teenager she prepared her materials for the day while the other ladies visited. When the machines were turned on she was able to start putting shoes together. Since the job was piece work, she was quickly earning more money than the ladies older than her with more experience.

Dora spent the next decade of her life helping her parents financially with the children still at home and doing without herself so she could save money. By this time, the family had moved to Cairo and her father was unhappy with his job as a machinist at Blankenship in Cairo because they would not give him a small raise. With the money Dora had saved, he purchased some used equipment and started his own machine shop. One evening at dinner, he announced that he was going to start selling automotive parts and Dora was going to sell them. The name was changed to McGinness Automotive Supply.

Dora became a novelty in the Cairo area and many of her customers were fascinated by her knowledge of cars and engines. Often times a customer would want to purchase a more expensive part and after describing their car's problem Dora would say, "try this first, it's a lot cheaper." More often than not the cheaper item fixed the problem.

After her father's retirement, she and her brother Frank formed McGinness Enterprises, eventually relocating and expanding the business. A few months after his death, and at the age of 83 and nearly 68 years of work, Dora decided it was time to retire. She spent her remaining years with her family, traveling, reading and living in her beloved home that she and her parents purchased in 1963.

She is survived by her sisters, Mary R. Satterfield and Louise Hornberger; her brother, Don (Mary Ann) McGinness; one niece, Kim Bodhe of Barlow, KY; two nephews, Mark McGinness and Charles Allan McGinness both of Cairo, IL; as well as several great nephews and nieces.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by one infant sister, Lois Elaine McGinness; her brother, Frank McGinness; two brothers in law, Robert "Bob" Satterfield and George Roy Hornberger, and one niece, Joyce Berry.

Visitation will be from 11:00 a.m. until the funeral hour at 1:00 p.m., Thursday, June 28, 2018, at the McMikle Funeral Home in Charleston. Rev. Dr. Larry L. Potts, pastor of the Mighty Rivers Regional Worship Center in Cairo, IL, will officiate

Interment will follow in the McGinnis Cemetery near Anna, IL under the direction of the McMikle Funeral Home in Charleston.

Online condolences may be shared at www.mcmiklefuneralhome.com .

Memorials may be made to: Magnolia Manor, P.O. Box 286, Cairo, IL 62914