Diana L. McIntire

Long but not long enough
Diana Alice (Dragoo) Mcintire
April 1, 1943 – January 13, 2023 
Diana Alice Mcintire was born April 1, 1943 to Helen Elizabeth Tabe and Elmer Wood Dragoo and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio.   She was my wife, mother to our son and mother to several Foster Children and eventually an adopted son.   
When I met her she was training to be Pharmacist which takes 5 years of college and thousands of hours of internship.    Although she was dedicated to her studies, she much loved to dance and enjoy life.  So I took her to several dances even though I can not dance at all.   She still let me date her and was much fun to be with.   The clincher was when she agreed to co-pilot on a trip to carry books to a ‘black’ school in Selma Al.   She had to be back at work in a few days, so this meant driving through the night and sleeping in the car.   The trip included stopping at my parents home to pick up a newer used car.  She was not only smart and fun but was willing to forgo fun to help people.  We married in Feb 1967 in Cincinnati.
On completion of training she became a staff hospital pharmacist at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland Ohio in 1966.  She continued in that position until she had our son Kenneth in 1970.  In 1971, I was laid off with low prospects and she went back to work as a relief pharmacist so others could take leave.  During this period our son got very ill and went to the local hospital   They then transferred him to the Cleveland Clinic which eventually transferred him to the Rainbow Center for Children because he had been diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis (CF).   We brought him home just before Christmas.   The treatment for CF at the time involved large amounts of pills, sleeping in a Tent full of Mist and multiple rounds physical therapy given by her 
In Jan 1972, I got notification of a job at YPG and flew out to try for it.   I was given the job and Diana and I flew into Phoenix to drive to Yuma to find a place to stay.  We stopped in Gila Bend and asked about Air-Conditioning as we came from zero temperatures.  Later she would wear jackets at 70.   The desert was in bloom that year all the way to Yuma.  (did not happen again for a long time)   We stopped in the Foothills where there were probably only 2 or 3 site built homes.   Diana rejected the idea ‘I am not going to move into the desert after living in big cities’.  We found a house in El Pueblocita and have stayed there since.
Shortly after arriving in Yuma, YRMC urgently needed a hospital pharmacist and Diana was rapidly licensed in Arizona and ran the Hospital Pharmacy on a temporary basis.   She wanted to have more time available to care for our son.   Diana then signed on with the independent Pharmacies where they could be more flexible with the work hours.   Diana loved working and interacting with the customers and would even go out in the middle of night to open the store when she was on call.  (She was told to have the Police meet her there to sure it was ok.
Because Diana was skilled at the Physical Therapy needed for CF, she was asked if she could care for a baby which needed an Oxygen Tent at night and the same type of physical therapy.   So Diana was rapidly certified as a Foster Parent and cared for the infant till it no longer needed the oxygen tent and therapy and could be returned to his mother.   This was about a year    
Since Diana was already a Foster Parent she was asked if she would take other children for short periods.   So she did and we sometimes had 2 extra kids in the home.   Diana developed early onset Rheumatoid Arthritis at this time and could care for large infants.  We had been looking at adopting a child near our son’s age but with no luck.   The social service suggested she consider a younger child.   So we fostered a boy (Michael) and girl about 2 years old,  the girl had a brother and was to be adopted as a pair.   Diana could not manage the brother because of her Arthritis   Our son Kenneth would have been starting school at about this time.
Diana was still working as a part time pharmacist during this time,  so the foster kids and were commonly put in day care for a period.   The adoption for the foster girl was completed and she was to be transferred to her new parents.   Because Diana was working, it was decided to have the new parents pick the girl from the day care center.  ( BIG MISTAKE)  Michael became terrified of going to the daycare center.   He thought his SISTER disappeared at the daycare.   Diana called the social worker and arranged for Michael to meet the girl at her new home.   The girl happily showed him her new room.   Michael said she had a new brother.  (All ended well).   Shortly thereafter we adopted Michael.
Kenneth’s Cystic Fibrosis continued to make his condition worse and would eventually have to stay in ahospital for a total of months during a year.   He died at the hospital in Tucson in 1984
Diana also liked the desert and went car camping with friends on a regular basis.  Although the Arthritis would inhibit her ability to go far, she would try to be able to see and do things.   She even made it to some Bristle Cone Pines in the mountains above ZION national park.  Her ankles could not handle sideslopes and when I attempted to take her directly to a WaterHole in the Muggins, she turned the air blue even though she does not like curses.   We went the long way.
She took Geology and Oceanography at AWC for fun and went on field trips including ones into Mexico such as trip to see Halley’s comet in the darker skies there.   She also arranged for trips to see SOLAR eclipses – first on a cruise ship between Matzalan and Cabo San Lucas.   The second was even more involved going to Chile and camping out in tents at 8000 ft on the  altiplano.   When she arrived into Santiago Chile, the Hotel Staff said we recognize you.   It turns out that Main Newspaper had a picture on the front page of the Solar Eclipse Encampment and there she was in her bright outfit.
We always occasionally went on long trips in our small motorhome.   The more recent ones were just Diana and I and would take forever to get anywhere.   One of the trips was following Hwy 95 all the way into Canada and visiting out of the way places such as the Ichthyosaur and Berlin mine park in Nevada.   A 100 mile detour and days spent there.   We did finally make it to Banff and the beautiful Mtns, Glaciers and Waterfalls.
On a more recent trip going east we stayed in Palo Duro Canyon and on the way back to Amarillo, Diana saw a sign Alibates Flint Quarry.   We had to go –(Diana has the whole Auel ‘Clan of the Cave Bear’ collection)   We got a tour for just us by the Park Ranger.
Diana loved to talk with  people (anybody strangers or not).   On one trip when we stopped for some reason, one of our sons said “oh no, we will never get started.  Mom is talking to somebody”   I wish I had a tiny fraction of her ability.
Diana was always considerate of others.   In the last moments before the disease took away her motor and cognitive ability she said “I think I am dying” and I replied “I think so too” she squeezed my hand to comfort me.   She was no longer able to speak when she reached the hospital.
She was the major part my life, I miss her terribly.   
Her Husband of 55 Years (Tom)

If she were here to read this she would probably correct some of this.   On a Train, Bus and Hike trip across Great Britain when were young, when the day was done and we compared notes , it was like we were on different trips.   She remembered the people we met, but got the places and sequence mixed up and I did the reverse.   It was a wonderful trip, climbing mountains in the pouring rain or in the middle of the night to be somewhere we wanted to be.   

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