Jim McIntyre: Proud, never deterred

James Lloyd McIntyre was just a month short of his 21st birthday when he arrived in Sault Ste. Marie on June 14, 1947.

Within a week, the fresh new face at Trans-Canada Air Lines had figured out that the St. Mary's River Boat Club was the place to be.

Because that's where the girls were.

First night there, McIntyre met a girl, Mary Gallivan.

They fell in love.

Two years later, they married.

Over the years, Jim and Mary had six children, then 15 grandchildren.

James became a school trustee, then a ward alderman, then mayor of his adopted city.

He cut the ribbon on the International Bridge in 1962.

He spearheaded the push to develop the Sault's waterfront.

And yesterday, 67 years, seven months and 28 days after he landed here, Jim McIntyre died in the parking lot of the Sleep Inn on Bay Street, following an accident involving a piece of snow-removal equipment.

"I think I made a difference," McIntyre said in an interview with Tom Mills done two years ago for the Oral History Project of Sault Ste. Marie.

A lifelong Liberal, he steered clear of partisan politics during his years as mayor, from 1960 to 1964.

But McIntyre met every Ontario premier and every Canadian prime minister of his time.

Well, every premier except Bob Rae, and that's something that McIntyre deeply regretted.

"I'm a real fan of this guy," he told Mills. "I was a fan when he was the NDP premier. I think he's bright and he's got a lot to offer. But I met the prime ministers and the premiers and who have you. I never would have done that somewhere else."

"I met my wife here. My kids were all born here. My four daughters all live here."

McIntyre also talked in the 2012 oral history interview about a subject he rarely mentioned: his low vision.

When it came to his little-known disability, McIntyre was never a complainer.

He never let what he couldn't do interfere with what he could achieve.

But in recent years, McIntyre's poor vision was serious enough to affect his enjoyment of Soo Greyhound hockey games.

Still, he continued to attend the games, even when fellow fans had lost faith.

"The fact is, they only support the Greyhounds win or tie," the former mayor said. "If they lose, everything's wrong. They criticize everything, right down to the pizza and the popcorn."

"I think the true fan sticks with it through thick and thin, Better days are coming. I'm buying another season ticket, even though because of low vision, I don't see the puck. I can't read names on the jerseys. In fact, now I can't read their numbers. But I can see them move around, and we're seeing first-class hockey. So those who are willing to pack it in, in my opinion, are not true hockey fans.

It was the time he spent at the St. Mary's River Boat Club that kindled McIntyre's initial passion for politics.

Not long after he arrived in the Sault, McIntyre was elected as the club's treasurer.

"I'd never worked with groups before and I was fascinated with the opportunity to meet some other people and see how groups worked together. And that's where I got the itch," he said.

The oral history interview with Mills also covers McIntyre's years working at Algoma Steel, his role in getting the International Bridge built, the development of the waterfront area, the library's main branch downtown, and his decision against running for higher office.

McIntyre says he was asked by all three major political parties to  run federally.

"In the last election I contested, I won every poll but one. My opponent won the poll in which he had been born and raised. So they looked at the arithmetic and said: 'well, this guy can get elected.' But working for the airline, I used to see the travel patterns of the members, both provincially and federally. I said: 'I'm not leaving town on a Sunday night to come back on Friday night, and spend all day Saturday and Sunday meeting my constituents.' I've got six kids at home. I'm just not going to do that." 

To view the Oral History Project of Sault Ste. Marie interview with McIntyre, please click here and scroll down the page to find the link.