Karen’s mom worked with Ray McIntyre for nearly 20 years. He’d adopted three kids, ran an auto-parts/hardware store and sat on county council for four terms. Quite a guy.
County loses popular politician
By Timothy W. Young – Warrick Publishing Online
Warrick County Commissioner Tim Mosbey said former County Councilman Ray McIntyre is the reason he got involved in local politics.
“I kept giving him heck about stuff, and he said, ‘Why don’t you run?’” said Mosbey. “So I did. He was one of a kind. He’s irreplaceable in my opinion.”
McIntyre, 61, died shortly after 2 p.m. Thursday, April 2 at Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville, following a stroke.
McIntyre was in Nashville to receive an operation on a small brain tumor and was expected to fully recover, until the stroke.
Funeral services were held Monday at Main Street General Baptist Church in Boonville.
During her eulogy, McIntyre’s sister, Pat Brooks, joked about how the two of them used to “scrap like cats and dogs, but we always came together for family.”
Brooks ended her emotional eulogy by quoting William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” saying, “Good night sweet prince.”
At the service, McIntyre was remembered as a politician, a businessman and a family man.
“He did stuff behind the scenes that nobody realized he did,” said Mosbey. “He didn’t want any recognition for it. He didn’t play politics. He wasn’t a politician. He was there for the right reason. He was there as a taxpayer trying to do what was right.”
Mosbey said McIntyre will be missed by the entire political community.
“He was well-liked by everybody,” he said. “The Democrats were never out to get Ray. We always ran someone against him, but we kind of all knew that there was no beating him. He could cut your budget and you’d still vote for him.”
“He always seemed to put everybody else first,” said Warrick County Councilman Greg Richmond. “It didn’t matter whether you were Republican or Democrat, he served everybody. He really thought things through. He was a wise person.”
Richmond said McIntyre was always fun to have around because he would do crazy things like dress in a suit and hop in a dunking booth for fundraisers.
He said he will always remember McIntyre’s smile and his yearning to serve the public.
Anyone who frequented Warrick County Council meetings was aware that McIntyre always had mints that he would pass out to everyone. In keeping with the tradition, Mosbey said that he will make sure that there is a bag of mints sitting in front of McIntyre’s chair at the next meeting.
Aside from the politics — which McIntyre had been a part of for more than 12 years — he was also the former owner of Chandler Auto Parts.
Mosbey initially met McIntyre when he went into Chandler Auto Parts to buy oil filters and other farm equipment.
“We were business acquaintances before the politics,” he said.
McIntyre’s community service extended to the Warrick County Senior Citizen’s Center, a place that he frequently donated his time to.
“He was always there,” said Executive Director Kathy Fark. “He was a good friend to all of us here. There was something about Ray that whenever he walked through these doors, you knew he was here to help.”
Fark said many people will remember McIntyre coming in with bags of popcorn for people to enjoy and telling some of his local stories.
“He’d sit down and eat with us,” she said. “It was just something that he liked to do.”
In memory, Fark said that board members with the Warrick County Council on Aging are raising money to purchase a popcorn maker for the new senior citizen’s center.
Aside from the popcorn, McIntyre would volunteer his time and money to the senior citizen’s center.
“We are going to miss him greatly,” said Fark. “We loved Ray. Everyone here thought highly of him.”