K.J. McIntyre

KINGSTON- Three decades ago, in her early 40s, K.J. McIntyre left the life of a Wall Street financial services executive, dreaming of finding a city where she could make more of a difference in the community around her. She fell in love with the charm of Kingston, and went about fulfilling her dream. Last month Ms. McIntyre, long established as a Hudson Valley entrepreneur and booster for the Kingston Library, People’s Place, and other area institutions, died of complications following surgery. She was 72. Born Katherine Josephine McIntyre—the eldest of seven siblings, she was named after both grandmothers—K.J. founded McIntyre Marketing after moving to Kingston in 1990. Her goal, she said, was to help clients in both profit-making and not-for-profit enterprises blend financial services, realty development, and technology expertise in their own entrepreneurial endeavors. During much of her time here she also was licensed as a real estate broker with Coldwell Banker Village Green Realty. In the years since arriving, K.J. served for a time as Kingston Library president, and was among the founders of the Kingston Digital Corridor, an initiative to serve technology entrepreneurs. As library president, former Kingston Library director George Allen said, Ms. McIntyre aided that institution with various financial struggles, helping it achieve “stable funding [that] makes it more accountable to the people it serves.” Her death, Allen said, “leaves a void in the Kingston community that will be hard to fill.” K.J. was born in Brooklyn and raised in New Jersey. Her mother, Dorothy Concannon McIntyre, was a first-generation Irish American whose father was a New York City police captain. K.J.’s own father, John McIntyre, a World War II veteran, had a career in textile sales. After studying philosophy at Newton College of the Sacred Heart, outside Boston, K.J. moved to New York City and began a career in financial services in the early 1970s. Living near the South Street Seaport and elsewhere in lower Manhattan, from 1978 to 1983 she served as a vice president at Prudential Bache & Co. before moving to Shearson Lehman American Express as senior vice president for seven years. But her move to Kingston was life-changing. Among her nonprofit organizational passions was Kingston’s 48-year old People’s Place charity, which feeds, clothes and otherwise serves the needy of Ulster County. Christine Hein, the People’s Place executive director, called Ms. McIntyre one of that organization’s major backers. “Along with supporting our events and programming, K.J. did a great deal of research for our donor program that we now use,” Hein said. Ms. McIntyre also served terms as board secretary of the Children’s Home of Kingston, and of Arts Society of Kingston (ASK); served as treasurer of Kingston Uptown Business Association, and was on the board of the Ulster County Board of Realtors. In her family, she was a deeply devoted sibling; her six brothers and sisters especially appreciated the extensive family tree Ms. McIntyre compiled for them all after Dorothy’s death, at 94, in 2014. Their sister was also loved for the joy she displayed in the accomplishments of her nieces and nephews. Unable to be at her bedside for her final weeks at Vassar Medical Center in Poughkeepsie, due to pandemic-related restrictions, sisters and brothers from Key West, Fla.; Austin, Tex.; Clayton, Ga.; Reading, Pa.; Hingham, Mass., and New York City shared memories and said their good-byes hours before K.J.’s passing, in an online video connection arranged by the hospital. K.J.’s cousin, the Rev. Jane Tanaskovic Brady-Close, of Ghent, N.Y., joined to lead the family in a prayer service. In K.J.’s memory, the family has suggested that friends might make donations to a charity for area children: “Project Santa” at People’s Place, 17 St. James St., Kingston, 12401. A memorial auction of her collection of the work of local artists is planned for a future date to benefit Peoples Place. https://www.peoplesplaceuc.org http://www.lastingmemories.com/kj-mcintyre