LOGANSPORT HIGH SCHOOL
CLASS OF 1961
LOGANSPORT, INDIANA
Updated 10-19-2011

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      LOGANSPORT — When couple Steve and Tona McIntyre retired, their real work began.  [Steve graduated in the LHS Class of 1961]

      “They didn’t take retirement to mean sitting in a rocking chair,” their friend Steve Sims said.

      Some days Steve McIntyre serves meals at Logansport’s Salvation Army or mows grass near his church. His favorite projects, though, are the ones he does with his wife.

      On a recent afternoon, the couple trimmed shrubs in front of Peak Community Services in Logansport.

      “It really needed it,” Tona McIntyre said.

      They didn’t tackle the project because they had to, though. They did it because they wanted to.

      “Our goal every day is to help someone with something,” Tona McIntyre said.

      That’s why Sims and his family nominated the McIntyres to be a 2011 Good Neighbor.

      “They certainly don’t seek the accolades,” Sims said. “They think of others more than themselves.”

      Tona McIntyre chuckled when she found out she and her husband received the award.

      “We were worried this would happen some day,” she said with a laugh.

      She said it was hard for her and her husband to accept.

      “There’s a lot of other good people in this community who do a lot of good things,” she said. “We just have our hands in a lot of pots.”

      Sims said that was an understatement.

      He said the couple painted the trim at Emmaus Mission Center a few years ago, spearheaded the backpack program at two local elementary schools and volunteered to take care of a portion of the Panhandle Pathway trail.

      “And I’m sure we’re just scratching the surface on all the things these tireless workers do,” Sims said.

      The couple was especially proud of some of their church ministries at Calvary Presbyterian. They led the effort to get a bus for the church and are working toward a bus ministry.

      “We have a flourishing Sunday morning bus route,” Tona McIntyre said. “We pick up people who may not otherwise go to church.”

      They also counsel church members who’ve battled addictions or who have been in prison.

      Steve McIntyre became close with church member Amos Johnson, who once lived on the streets of Chicago until he went to prison for a drug crime.

      Now Johnson is drug-free and staying out of trouble in Logansport. He previously said Steve McIntyre helped him turn his life to Christ.

      Last April the two joined other church members in carrying large, wooden crosses to remember Christ’s sacrifice on the cross.

      Steve McIntyre cried during the event as he talked about the wonderful person Johnson had become.

      His wife said that ministry has really paid off.

      “We’re seeing the fruits of that,” she said. “We’re so proud of them. It’s not easy.”

      The McIntyres said they keep pretty busy. There’s rarely a day they’re not volunteering in some way.

“Things just fall in our laps,” Tona McIntyre said. “And we’re blessed with good health and the time to do it.”

      Sims was inspired by the couple’s example. He said his friends could have relaxed in their retirement, but instead they choose to share their gifts with others.

      “They threw themselves into volunteering instead of sitting on their laurels,” he said “I’m hoping their example inspires others to have the same spirit of volunteerism.”

      Sims said actions always speak louder than words, and the McIntyres’ actions have spoken very loudly to a lot of people.

      • Lindsey Ziliak is a staff writer at the Pharos-Tribune. She can be reached at 574-732-5148 or lindsey.ziliak@pharostribune.com.