Mrs. MacIntyre was born in the Parish of Fearn, Ross-shire, in the year 1867. She was the eldest daughter of George Mackay and his wife, Jane Ross. About her early life we have not been able to glean much information but that she was brought up in a home where family worship was conducted morning and evening. This laudable custom was more prevalent in the Highlands of Scotland then than it is now, and Mrs. MacIntyre was one who held in high esteem the piety and Christian manners of her own generation. She belonged to a generation which at least saw the tail end of the season which followed the “Days of the Fathers in Ross-shire” and there were many outstanding Christians, men and women, in her own young days. This association with the godly played an important part in the formation of her character which was honest and upright.
In her early twenties she decided to take up nursing as a profession and began her training at Belvidere Hospital, Glasgow. At that time her brother, the late William Mackay, was studying for the ministry along with the late Mr. N. MacIntyre and Mr. D. Beaton. Those students followed the late Rev. D. MacFarlane and Rev. D. Macdonald when they left the Free Church, having protested against the Declaratory Act becoming part of the Church’s constitution. Mrs. MacIntyre, or Miss Mackay as she then was, was a strong supporter of the action taken by those gracious and faithful men in the defence of the truth.
During 1893-94 she removed to Edinburgh and it was at that time she became a member in full communion. It is not known whose ministry she attended in Glasgow. In 1895 Mrs. MacIntyre went to Vatten, Skye, to keep house for her brother George, who was for some time schoolmaster there. It was while in Vatten she again met Mr. MacIntyre. She with her brother left Vatten about 1901 when he was appointed to Ardross as schoolmaster, and remained with him until her marriage to Mr. MacIntyre in 1902 when she returned to Skye. At that time she and her husband, to the great pleasure of the congregation, took up residence in the Glendale manse.
From Glendale the MacIntyres removed to Stornoway. In both Glendale and Stornoway Mrs. MacIntyre was held in high esteem not only by her husband’s congregation but by the whole community. She did what she could to help her husband cope with his many duties. Her main contribution in this respect was her constant endeavour to provide him with a happy home and relieve him of any domestic worry. This she could not have found easy, having regard to the limited income of the ministers of the Church at the time. She did, however, her best for those committed to her care; and her aim, which was to allow her husband devote his time and energy to the work of which he proved himself so worthy, was not in vain. After years of usefulness in Stornoway Mr. MacIntyre removed to Edinburgh where all the four members of the family married and where Mr. and Mrs. MacIntyre ended their course.
In Edinburgh Mr. MacIntyre spent over twenty years of his ministry and during that time his wife proved a loyal helpmeet to him. For years she tenderly and lovingly nursed her husband though her own health was badly impaired. To only very few she divulged the fact that she was labouring under a physical disability for years. Her trouble eventually developed to a crisis and an operation had to be performed. From this operation she never properly recovered and last March she passed peacefully away to her everlasting rest. After Mr. MacIntyre’s death she lived with her daughter, Mrs. Aiken, who lovingly nursed her to the end.
To the sons and daughters we extend our sincere sympathy in the loss they have sustained by the death of a gracious mother. We would recommend to them the example of godliness they saw under their parents’ roof and pray that they be led to the Saviour, whom their parents served in the world.—D. C.