Neal McIntyre

Neal Ray McIntyre, 79, of Winfred, SD passed away on January 17, 2022, surrounded by his wife and children. Neal bravely dealt with the complications of Progressive Supranuclear Palsy for a decade. Mass of Christian Burial will be 10:30 AM on Saturday, January 22nd at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church with Father Anthony Urban as the Celebrant. Visitation will be 5-7 PM on Friday at Rustand-Weiland Funeral Chapel with a prayer service at 7 PM. Visitation will continue on Saturday from 9:30-10:15 AM at the funeral chapel followed by procession to the church for mass. Burial will be in Winfred Cemetery with military honors provided by Madison VFW & Madison American Legion. Online guestbook is at www.rustandweilandfuneral.com. The funeral will be livestreamed on the funeral chapel Facebook page. Memorials can be directed to St. Thomas School, 401 N. Van Eps Ave., Madison, SD 57042 or All Cats Rescue, PO Box 464, Sioux Falls, SD 57101. Neal McIntyre was born on November 22, 1942, in Portland, Oregon to Ray and Minnie (Wiedeman) McIntyre. His family returned to South Dakota and rented a farm near Marion, SD until purchasing a farm near Winfred in 1949. Neal grew up on the family farm and graduated from Winfred High School in 1960. He attended the University of South Dakota for one year. He then returned to Madison and worked his way through Dakota State College earning a degree in Education in 1964. He was very proud of the fact that he paid his way through college while working full time at Wenk Foods. After graduation, he enlisted in the United States Army and served from 1964-1967. During his enlistment, he was stationed at Ft. Leonard Wood for basic training, in Vilseck, Germany for 18 months and at Ft. Benning in Georgia. Neal was proud to be a military veteran and participated in the Winfred Memorial Day program for many decades, even continuing with his own unofficial Memorial Day program in the Winfred cemetery after there was no longer an official ceremony. Upon his discharge from the Army, he taught for one year in the small town of Farmer, SD. He then took a job with Job Service in Watertown, SD. It was during his employment with Job Service that he met Linda Rasmussen. He and Linda were married on August 23, 1970 in Lake Preston, SD. To this union, two children, Michael and Erin, were born. Neal and Linda briefly made their home in Watertown before moving to Sioux Falls where Neal worked for the Veterans Administration as a claims adjudicator for 9 years. In 1979, he began working as the Liquidation and Loan Officer for the Small Business Administration until his retirement in 2002. In 1974, Neal and Linda purchased a farm near Winfred and built a house where they have resided since. Although Neal commuted to Sioux Falls for work for many years, he also took great pride in farming and considered himself a farmer first and foremost. Upon his retirement in 2002, he kept busy fixing fence, checking cattle, creating food plots and vacationing. He often remarked that he was so busy in retirement that he wasn’t sure how he had ever had time to work his regular full-time job! Neal lived and loved to travel. Every summer, he would load his family into a Chevette (without air conditioning) and spend two weeks driving around the United States. He loved to visit the national parks but would also stop for every miniature golf course and go kart track and happily obliged his children’s request to only stay at hotels with a pool. Among his many travel adventures were 47 states, 6 Canadian provinces, and more than 20 European countries. Neal was so proud that he was able to take his family on their first European vacation in 1993. Since that time, he returned to vacation in Europe more than 10 times. He also traveled to Alaska, Hawaii, many historic battlefields, national parks and was always planning his next trip as soon as he was home from one trip. One of his favorite vacation destinations was Disneyworld and he enjoyed many trips there with his children and grandchildren - and enjoyed many trips there with Linda once his children were grown (proving that one is never too old for Disneyworld). Even in the past year, as his PSP progressed, he was able to travel to Yellowstone, Medora, ND, Branson, MO and the Black Hills. Besides travel, Neal’s other passion was hunting. He loved hosting his annual pheasant hunting group (his 71st pheasant hunting year if that story is to be believed) where the men all enjoyed camaraderie and socializing just as much as the hunt. He also enjoyed deer hunting in the Black Hills and from his many deer stands (or deer condos as everyone affectionately referred to them) on his many acres of farmland. Neal loved cats and dogs and had many loyal pets over the years. Neal also loved to talk and never met a stranger (much to his children’s chagrin as they were growing up). Neal also was a voracious reader and loved history. Although Google did not exist when his children were growing up, they wouldn’t have needed it because he seemed to have a never-ending wealth of knowledge on every topic (and he may or may not have embellished things if he didn’t know the answer). Neal had a loud and loving laugh. One of the most difficult aspects of his PSP diagnosis was his inability to speak for the past several years. But, in true McIntyre fashion, he was requesting and drinking Diet Mountain Dew (his only vice) even from his hospital bed. Neal will be lovingly remembered by his wife of 51 years, Linda of Winfred; children, Michael (Patty) McIntyre of Asunción, Paraguay and Erin (Todd) Menkhaus of Rapid City; grandchildren, Lane and Kayla McIntyre, Alexia DeHoog, Bryson, Kaylin and Carsten Menkhaus; brother, Scott (Melanie) McIntyre, and several brothers/sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, Ray and Minnie McIntyre.