Thomas Olis McIntire

Thomas Olis McIntire was born in Belleville, Illinois on June 10,
1941. During his childhood, he moved to North Carolina with his family.
He received a college degree in engineering from Duke University in
1963. He met his future wife Diana in Cincinnati Ohio where they were wed
on February 4th, 1967. Shortly after they married, they relocated to
Cuyahoga, Ohio where their first son Kenny was born in 1970. After Kenny
was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, they relocated to Yuma Arizona where it
was thought that the climate would be beneficial. Tom and Diana fostered
many children over the years and eventually adopted Michael in 1980.
One of Tom’s earliest jobs in Ohio was working for NASA on the Mars
project. He never lost interest in rockets and space travel and kept up on
the latest rocket launches. Tom worked at Yuma Proving Ground as an
engineer from the early 70’s until retirement. Among his jobs there, he
scouted out sites for new testing courses, spending his days driving around
the desert looking for the best terrain.
Throughout his life, he hiked mountain trails in the east and later, the
Pacific Crest Trail in California, as well as many trails in the Yuma area. He
explored much of the desert, at first driving his Ford Falcon or a motorcycle

through places such as Yuma Wash, later using a 4-wheel drive. He and his
wife and two sons camped all over Arizona, often going with a group of
friends. He and Diana traveled extensively overseas and across the U.S. He
was an avid reader, from science, to science fiction, to current news. He
loved experiments such as finding out whether paint with tiny beads in it
was a better insulator against heat.
He and Diana ate breakfast every morning at Brownies Cafe, and the
employees there became a part of the McIntire family. Tom and Diana
were also members of the Westerners in Yuma, a western history group.
For some 20 years Tom and Diana were the keeper of the Marks and
Brands, sending out meeting notices to the group.
Tom and Diana enjoyed travelling and here are a few examples of some of
their travels. Tom traveled with Diana and the Dragoo family to South
Dakota for her brother Richard’s wedding. In Tom’s usual fashion he
enjoyed taking walks through town, in the woods and along the river. They
also enjoyed playing tour guide with family, showing them the sights in the
Southwest such as the Painted Desert, the Petrified forest and the Grand
Canyon.
Tom was a member of the Desert Big Horn Sheep Society and would go out
in the mountains with the group to clean out water holes in the desert. This
was hot, dirty, strenuous work hauling heavy items across steep terrain (not
unlike being a desert bighorn sheep)
If you were to ask anybody who knew Tom, they would tell you that he was
the nicest man. He often would let Diana do all the talking and would stand
quietly on the sidelines listening. After Diana passed, Tom was forced to
actually talk to people and write letters to friends. His letters were very
eloquent and well written despite his insistence to the contrary.

“I am happy that I can do a manly thing for once” – Quote from
Tom when working on a yard project for his dear friend Carol.

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