newspaper article
Catalog Number
2021.14.410Description
Holland Sentinel article from 11-18-1989 about McIntosh manor, a low cost housing complex for senior citizens. The idea for the complex started with Mary McIntosh.History
Mary M. McIntosh was born Mary Margaret McKanna in Mount Vernon, Ohio, on August 2, 1908. Her parents were Frank Earl and Mary Elizabeth McKanna. After high school Mary moved to Detroit. This is where she married her husband Charles Louis McIntosh. They had five children. After her youngest child started school Mary used her time for her church and communities where the family lived, Milwaukee and Detroit. Mary was the state secretary of the Michigan Heart Association, she also volunteered for Women in Community Service. At age 55, Mary earned her driver’s license and she got her own car. This opened up a whole new world to her. Frank passed away in March of 1973. Before his passing Mary and Frank bought a little cottage in Holland so they could spend summers with their grandchildren here. Mary chose to settle in Holland after his death. In Holland Mary was a member of Our Lady of the Lake Parish. After hearing a speaker share about a refugee program Mary went to her pastor, Father Nash, and asked him if he thought their parish could help with refugees. Mary kept dialogue going about this idea, the church sponsored their first family with her guidance in 1984. Mary helped with Vietnamese families because the head of the diocese was a Vietnamese woman and would be very helpful with communicating with the refugees they were assisting. Mary continued to help multiple families settle in the Holland area.In 1985 Mary approached her church with the idea of making life a bit easier for senior citizens in the area by providing affordable housing. A few years later McIntosh Manor, a low cost apartment complex on Beechnut Drive, was built. Mary passed away on August 9, 2006 at the age of 98.