Obituary: Mcintyre, Dick “Mac”
Age 71
He was born in Seattle, Washington on July 18, 1943 to Robert and Lydia McIntyre.
He had a Christian Baptism at the Bethany Presbyterian Church in Seattle on October 10, 1943.
At the time of his birth his father served in the Marine Corps during WWII and they were temporarily stationed in Seattle, where shortly after they moved back to their original hometown of Spokane, Washington.
Dick was the older brother of Marie Bonnie Elizabeth McIntyre.
After their mother tragically passed away, his second and very much loved mother was Helen Flemming who married his father in 1952.
He became an Eagle Scout in 1957 and graduated from Lewis and Clark High School in 1961.
He served in the United States Marine Corps from 1963-1966, and was awarded medals for Rifle Expert and Good Conduct.
He graduated from Gonzaga University with a bachelor in Civil Engineering in 1970, and obtained his Professional Engineer License in 1975.
He spent his entire career with the Montana Department of Transportation, providing public service from 1970-2001 (31 years).
When he retired he was the Manager of the Hydraulics Department.
He lived a private simple frugal life, but he was far from a simple man.
Throughout his life he loved the typical things like camping, fishing, canoeing, motorcycle trips, and socializing with buddies.
But he tenaciously followed his pursuit of freedom and right to an autonomous lifestyle; free to live his life as he saw fit.
And with his life he pursued his desire for learning, where he spent time engaging his mind and enhancing his experiences with the world around him through reading, studying and learning a wide variety of disciplines to expand and improve his mind and body.
As a self-motivated scholar, he constantly searched for God, order, peace, truth, balance, mindfulness, emotional intelligence and self.
To name a few, he studied Karate, Yoga (two years), Thai Chi (25 years), Qigong (10 years), meditation (12+ years), philosophy, and Spanish and Japanese languages.
He did a 12 year study and earned 11 degrees through the Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis (AMORC); more commonly known as the Rosicrucian Order where students study the collective wisdom of humanity to find their inner light and wisdom to be used for the greater good of all.
He was a Freemason at the Helena Masonic Lodge No.
3, where members are devoted to God and America and they work to safeguard principles of justice, freedom and democracy.
In addition to this, he was a associated with and/or a member of the National Eagle Scout Association, American Legion, Montana Retired Public Employee Council and American Society of Civil Engineers.
He donated to charities and organizations like the Salvation Army, Jesuits, Gonzaga University, and various church denominations.
You knew it was “MAC” when he used the word “WOW” when expressing great appreciation or prefacing a statement with “Well anyways…” He was detail oriented (admittedly overly so), genuine, generous and had a keen sense of humor.
He never wanted to impose or be a burden.
When you told him he was smart, he’d deny it and say he was just persistent.
He admitted he was just a fear filled paranoid guy.
But we all know and agree that he was a fair, just, genuine and an incredible man.
He LOVED golf!
Need more be said?
Sixteen years he spent perfecting every swing, every stroke.
He made it his own religion, which ultimately he devoted most of his time in the last decade.
Although he never married, he was devoted to his “sweet pea” Carol Patterson, where for 35 plus years they dined, danced, hiked, golfed and shared simple pleasures.
Carol was the one selfless super-sweet person who accepted him for who he was, and she was the one person he trusted and loved.
Carol was loved by not only him, but by his family as well.
He was preceded in death by his parents, and survived by his sister Marie B. E. Peterson (aka Bonnie) and brother-in-law Robert F. Peterson, Klamath Falls, OR; and his two nieces Tanya E. Bird, McCleary, WA and Darci Annette Peterson, Klamath Falls, OR; and his dear old Aunt Adeline Backsen and Aunt Verna Backsen and numerous cousins.
A memorial service celebrating Dick’s life will be held at 1:00 p.m. Monday, October 6th at Anderson Stevenson Wilke Funeral Home, 3750 N. Montana Ave. Placement of his cremated remains with Military Honors will be in the columbarium niche at the Montana State Veterans Cemetery at Fort Harrison.
Please visit www.aswfuneralhome.com to offer the family a condolence or to share a memory of Dick.