Roderick Keith McIntyre

Roderick Keith McIntyre, Sr. was born September 24, 1957 at the Evergreen Hospital in Evergreen, Alabama.He was known by others by nicknames, "Spot", "Sugar Man", "Smooth", "Big Mac" and "Mac".

Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m., Friday, July 28, 2023 at Cope-Keahey Funeral Home Chapel in Evergreen. The family will receive friends from 9 a.m., until time of the services. Brother Mike Jones and Brother Cecil Jackson will officiate and eulogies will be given by his brother, Edwin Marcus "Marc" McIntyre, Jr.and nephew, Dean Peevy. Interment will follow in the Welcome Cemetery (Hwy. 31, McKenzie, Alabama).

He was preceded in death by his parents, Edwin Marcus McIntyre, Sr., and Wilma Dean Chesser McIntyre and a son, Seth Ward McIntyre.

Left to cherish his memory, loving wife of 45 years, Debra Ann Ward McIntyre; sons, Roderick Keith McIntyre, Jr. (Erin Jones McIntyre) of Brewton, Alabama; William Zachary McIntyre (Adrianna) of Evergreen, Alabama; grandchildren, Jadyn Alexia McIntyre  of Evergreen, Alabama; Carleigh Rae McIntyre of Orange Beach, Alabama; Roderick Keith McIntyre, III. of Brewton, Alabama, Landon Elizabeth McIntryre  of Brewton, Alabama; brother, Edwin Marcus "Marc" McIntyre, Jr., (Cindy) of Andalusia, Alabama; Amelia Kaye Bush (Winton) of Montgomery, Alabama; Judy Dean Moody (Bill) of Mongtomery, Alabama; many nieces and nephews and many, many friends.

Keith grew up in Evergreen, Alabama, the baby of four children. All the freckles on his face earned him the nickname "Spot". As a little boy, he could often be seen riding his bicycle from McKenzie to Georgiana BAREFOOTED! He learned at a young age how to fend for himself. Before he could read, if he was hungry before a meal time, he would climb up on the kitchen counter and open all the Campbell soup cans in the pantry until he found the tomato soup, his FAVORITE!
Being the baby, as a little boy he would often sleep with his big sisters and rub their ear lobes until he fell asleep. He learned how to swim by following his big brother and jumped in a pond and had to swim all the way across it. From that moment he became an avid swimmer and even enjoyed swimming later in life. He graduated from McKenzie High School in McKenzie, Alabama in 1975.In high school he played all positions on the football team. He really was not what one would call an "honor student", he was not too interested in the academics of school. He was more interested in the outside... and operating machinery. He would laughingly say he would just "butter up the teachers" by taking them flowers and telling them how pretty they were in order to get passing grades! After high school graduation, he started working at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Later he returned to Evergreen, Alabama to work with his father at Conecuh Timber Company. In 1978, his father sold Conecuh Timber Company and then Keith with his Uncle Pete McIntyre started Monroe Tie Company in Beatrice, Alabama. Filled with the entrepreneurial spirit, through the years he owned several other businesses with family members, C & M Tie Co. with Carol Chesser and his brother, Edwin Marcus "Marc" McIntyre; B & M Logging with a brother-in-law, Winton Bush; J & M Logging with a friend, Bobby Johnson; his own company, Keith McIntyre
 Real Estate; and with his sons, Roderick Keith McIntyre and William Zachary McIntyre, 3 Mac Logging. 
At an early age, he had passion for creating and developing things, especially land and property. One of his greatest "thrills" in life was seeing something go from nothing to GREAT! In 1981, at the age of 23 he bought 4 lots from Ed Smith and built the family homeplace at 104 Wall Drive, Smithwood Heights in Evergreen, where he and Debra resided until 2022. When his father passed, he left Keith 24 acres at Exit 96. His father had told him he had bought that property with the vision of building a Truck Stop. Keith completed the vision his father had and built McIntyre Travel Center in Evergreen. Keith managed that business until he sold it to Max Oil Company in Greenville, Alabama. Of all his developments, his prize possession was his FARM at 1918 William Walter Ward Road, Evergreen. As a little boy, living in the town of McKenzie, he would have to sneak on someone else's land to get to a pond or watermelon patch. He was often caught by the land owner and told, "DO NOT TRESPASS on my property and...STAY OUT OF MY POND!" He was approached in 1994 by his father-in-law, William Walter Ward and offered the opportunity to purchase 160 acres. The "handshake deal" was completed in less than 10 minutes. The property had CRP planted pines on it which was producing income from the CRP program. Keith not only paid full asking price for the land but gave back all the income of the CRP program to his father-in-law., William Walter Ward.

Keith's "tree of choice" was the PINE tree. He loved to ride through all the woods and look at the trees. He also loved to harvest the pine tree. 
He was a member of Evergreen Church of Christ and was baptised in the swimming pool at Smithwood Heights by Brother Jack Lungsford in 2010. He was a member of the Evergreen Golf Club where he won the Club Championship Tournament, the W.W. (Bill) Bailey, Jr. Memorial in 2003. He was an Alabama Crimson Tide fan and loved to brag about his son, Roderick, graduating from the University of Alabama in T-Town. He also loved to brag on his youngest son, Zachary who could fix any piece of equipment put in front of him. Keith loved Corvette Stingrays, Harley Davidson motorcycles, race cars and Rolex watches. His favorite TV show was Family Feud. He and his brother and sisters even drove to Atlanta, Georgia to try out for the Steve Harvey Family Feud Show! They were not chosen to be on the show because they all froze up when it came time to answer the questions! 
Keith's hobbies and interests were all things that pushed him to be very competitive, football, golf, car racing, game shows and YES, YES...playing cards! Keith was not much of a country music fan, he preferred the ROCK GENRE.  His favorite song was "Like a Rock" by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band. In fact, he would often call the local country music radio station and request them to play rock music! He started at a young age collecting vinyl records and to this day still has a very large antique collection of vinyl records. 
Keith never met a stranger and was a mentor to many young people. He had a deep, moral sense of RIGHT and WRONG...which he credited to his raising by his mother and father. His WORD was steadfast...solid as GOLD, again something he credited to his mother and father. He always wanted his parents approval and to live a life his parents would be proud of. 
Keith would many times say, in a sarcastic way, "I can't read, write, or spell"...although his favorite book was "Jesus Calling...Enjoying Peace in His Presence'', in which he would read and study from MOST every day.

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