Pallbearers carry the casket of Mr. McIntyre, Augusta's first black mayor, to the hearse after his "Home Going Celebration." Many local and state leaders spoke of his accomplishments. Andrew Davis Tucker/Staff

Thousands pay tribute to McIntyre

Thousands came Friday to pay their respects to former Augusta Mayor Ed McIntyre at his "Home Going Celebration" at Bell Auditorium.

ADVERTISEMENT

Have a thought? Go to the Forums or Chat.

Subscribe  E-mail this story  Write a letter to the Editor  Printer-friendly version  Get news on your PDA  Get e-mail headlines

uanita McIntyre (center) is consoled by Mary James (left) as she leaves Bell Auditorium with her granddaughter, Senita McRae, after her husband's funeral Friday. About 3,000 people came to pay tribute to former Mayor Ed McIntyre. Andrew Davis Tucker/Staff The casket containing Mr. McIntyre lies at the front of Bell Auditorium as two ushers stand in the aisle at his funeral. Mr. McIntyre, 71, died Saturday after a lengthy illness. Andrew Davis Tucker/Staff Dr. Ashley Darnell McIntyre, the son of Ed McIntyre, holds up his father's shoes as he shares stories of his father's life with those attending Mr. McIntyre's funeral. Andrew Davis Tucker/Staff Rebecca Williams sings Going Up Yonder as she leads the Good Shepherd Baptist Church Choir at the funeral, which was held Friday at Bell Auditorium. Andrew Davis Tucker/Staff Spc. Rafael Stewart, of the Fort Gordon Installation Support Platoon, plays Taps at Mr. McIntyre's interment at Hillcrest Memorial Park. Many say Mr. McIntyre was Augusta's best mayor. Andrew Davis Tucker/Staff

Many said the ceremony was a fitting tribute to the man who was Augusta's first black mayor, Richmond County's first black county commissioner, and the founder of the Georgia Association of Black Elected Officials.

Mr. McIntyre, 71, died last Saturday after a lengthy illness.

An estimated 3,000 people came to praise him, his good works, his vision and his accomplishments, and to mourn his failure to reach his full potential.

"He did not become all that he could because we the people did not become all we could become in supporting him," said his sister-in-law Margaret B. Jones. "He wasn't given his rightful place in Richmond County."

Mr. McIntyre was mayor of Augusta when he was arrested and convicted of bribery and extortion charges and sentenced to five years in federal prison, but was released after 12 months.

He ran for mayor of the consolidated Augusta government twice, losing by 1,459 votes in a 2002 runoff against Mayor Bob Young.

Georgia Court of Appeals Judge John H. Ruffin Jr. recalled first meeting Mr. McIntyre 50 years ago at Morehouse College.

"We went to school Monday through Saturday," he said. "Ed wore a brown suit every day. And I haven't figured out whether he had six brown suits or wore the same suit every day.

"I've got my notions about it."

Judge Ruffin, like many others this week, proclaimed Mr. McIntyre "the best mayor Augusta ever had."

The folks at Bell Auditorium heartily agreed.

Judge Ruffin spoke of Mr. McIntyre's federal conviction.

"Unfortunately, he stepped back and crossed over the line of criminality, and the moral purists never let him forget it," he said. "In each of his subsequent elections, the moral purists did not support him because they were concerned about the image of Augusta."

Judge Ruffin said the truth is society produces public servants, not perfect servants.

"If you judge him by his weakest link, that's all right," he said.

"But if you judge him by his weakest link, you must choose to judge him by his strongest chain."

Judge Ruffin lamented the fact that Mr. McIntyre, who was instrumental in having streets and days named after others, had no street or day named for him.

To his wife, Juanita McIntyre, his daughter, Wanda McRae, and sons Edward Marlow McIntyre Jr. and Dr. Ashley Darnell McIntyre, Judge Ruffin said, "Your father was a man the likes of which this city has never seen and may never see again."

Former Fulton County Commissioner A. Reginald Eaves remembered that Mr. McIntyre often said there were two kinds of people in the world: those who lived in Augusta, and those who wished they lived in Augusta.

Mr. Eaves said that when he first ran for election, he called Mr. McIntyre, who asked how he could help him. Mr. Eaves told him he had it covered and didn't need him.

"Ed showed up the next day with a plan for my election," he said.

Mr. Eaves also recalled how Mr. McIntyre often talked of their deaths and how the one who remained would speak at the other's funeral.

"I said, 'Ed, are you going to tell me what to say?'" Mr. Eaves recalled.

According to Mr. Eaves, Mr. McIntyre took on the task of bringing the races together "as if it was a picnic."

In recounting Mr. McIntyre's mayoral achievements, including conceiving Riverwalk Augusta, Mr. Eaves said, "City council, I don't want to mind your business, but why in the world is that place not named for Ed McIntyre?

"Truly my brother Ed was one in a million," he said.

Mr. McIntyre's son Ashley solved the mystery raised by Judge Ruffin in his remarks about "the man you did not know."

He recalled that his father was raised by a mother with a sixth-grade education in a house with no running water.

"He went to a private school, but he paid his way by mopping floors at the Partridge Inn," Dr. McIntyre said.

"He went to Morehouse College, and Uncle John, I'm going to clear it up for you. He had one pair of pants, one brown suit and two shirts. Those he frequently washed in the sink so they would not smell."

He talked about his father, the provider, and how his children never went without.

He said Mr. McIntyre was a friend and a father, and a very strict one at that.

"He was definitely not sparing the rod. Definitely not spoiling the child," he said.

He said he thought of running away many times and went to the sidewalk waiting for someone to come get him, but nobody ever came.

"I even have a note in my scrapbook that says, 'I hate y'all.'"

Dr. McIntyre had a pair of his father's shoes with him at the podium.

"The fact that these are 11s and I wear a 13 is not the only reason they are difficult to fill," he said.

"It's the character of the man that makes it difficult for me to fill these shoes."

He implored the crowd to keep his father's legacy alive by doing things for other people that his father had done.

"And as for me, I am now proud to say I look like, I walk like, and I talk like my daddy. I'm proud to say I am Edward M. McIntyre.

"I am proud to say Edward M. McIntyre lives in me. His legacy lives on."

Reach Sylvia Cooper at (706) 823-3228 or sylvia.cooper@augustachronicle.com.

Related Stories

Previous Stories

--From the Saturday, August 21, 2004 printed edition of the Augusta Chronicle