Virginia D. McIntyre

Virginia was born on October 12, 1926 in Detroit, the eighth of 12 children in the Pulaski family. She was preceded in death by her parents Eleanore and Matthew, 10 brothers and sisters (Alphonse, Mary, Elizabeth (Sister Mary Digna), Tobias, Thaddeus, Angeline, Rita, Peter, Theresa and Bernadine), her beloved soulmate and husband James, and many other family members and friends. Her children James (Becky), Gerald (Nancy), Debra Dodd (the late Robert), grandchildren Matthew, Christopher and Colleen, three beautiful great grandchildren Ava, Lauren and Erik, her sister Veronica and many other family members carry her memory in our hearts.

Virginia (Virgie to her family) was feisty, meticulous, creative, hardworking and stubborn, but above all, family always came first in her life. She loved us all – kids, their spouses, grandkids, great-grands, sisters, brothers, brothers- and sisters-in-laws, nieces, nephews, cousins, aunts and uncles – on both the Pulaski and McIntyre sides – with the proverbial fierceness of a mama bear protecting her cubs.

She was a devout Catholic and prayed for everyone as well as our country. She used three well-worn prayer books and several prayer cards every morning and evening. If someone was going through a bad time, she knew the saint to pray to for intervention and did so.

“Cleanliness is next to Godliness” was a motto she lived by and imparted (not entirely successfully as Deb will attest) to her kids. Wherever she lived it was immaculate and organized all the time. Should she visit your house and deemed that it needed cleaning, organizing or laundry needed done, she took the initiative and got it done.

She was an amazing caregiver. If a family member was sick or needed help after surgery, she never hesitated and was there for that person, for however long she was needed. She willingly gave up a year and a half of her life to babysit Colleen until the right sitter could be found.

Virginia had many talents, including her ability to draw and paint. She loved to draw pictures for her grand and great-grands in their younger years, and loved to paint, especially furniture. Her grandchildren will each be gifted with a uniquely painted heirloom chair. Most recently this past spring she insisted on helping Deb and Colleen stain their deck and was outside in windy weather painting -- and supervising.

Virginia was an amazing crossword and word search puzzle fan. She had a large vocabulary, in part because of puzzle-solving, but she was also a voracious reader, often staying up until the wee hours of the morning to finish a good book. She could easily read several books a week and preferred those related to history. And it was traditional book reading she liked – no amount of convincing could make her use a Kindle.

She was interested in current events and politics, particularly in her later years, and had no problem sharing her thoughts and views. Though she proudly voted for Truman and JFK, in her later years she took a more conservative political view and enjoyed watching Fox News. She was adamant about voting in this year’s presidential election -- we’ll let you decide who she supported.

She loved animals, particularly birds, and could easily identify almost any one that visited the feeder or settled on the river near her apartment. Cats and dogs were also favorites and they were devoted to her, laying by her side when she visited Deb’s house.

She was able to travel to many states during her life, with Arizona being one of her favorites since her two sons lived there. Trips to Durango, CO, Fripp Island, SC and Washington, D.C. were especially memorable. She was also fortunate to take the trip of a lifetime to Poland with family where she saw a lot of the country where her parents were born.

While we will always wish we had more time with her, we are incredibly grateful that for almost 94 years. Virginia was full of sass and vitality. Godspeed to one helluva woman.