In Memoriam: Thomas McIntyre.

For those who follow this blog somewhat, you might have noted that in recent months there were a lot of comments from "Tom" "in Sheridan".

You may also have noticed that his last comment came when I got out of the hospital recently.  His thoughtful post stated:

Three years ago, I had a surgery and four weeks n the hospital while the incision healed.

The hospital really pushed me to head to Casper to do the recuperation, but I could not understand the idea that I would want to be 140 miles from home to essentially lie in a bed. (This was pre-Covid, so patient space was not a consideration; at least I couldn't see that as a reason.) In any case I received excellent care right in the hometown. I think you know that the friends who visit you are the true ones.

Matthew 25:34-40
King James Version

34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Tom
Sheridan, WY

Tom from Sheridan was Thomas McIntyre, a writer and big game hunter who lived in Sheridan.  The reason for his sudden departure is his sudden departure from this life.  Tom has passed on at age 70.  He left us on November 3.

I'm indebted to the Stephen Bodio blog, linked in at the side as one of the outdoor blogs we follow, for posting the news.   Tom commented so frequently that the sudden cessation of his comments made me wonder if I'd said something to offend him somehow, or if he just realized that he'd be in the category of "my betters" and just chose to pursue more worthwhile pursuits.

Tom's entry onto our pages here was due to a recommendation from another reader, I don't know who.  He sure improved the blog with his comments, and on one occasion improved a post by correcting some of my writing.  He was an obviously highly educated and thoughtful man.  

He was also a big game hunter, and writer on the topic.  I'd been looking forward to a book he was finishing on wild cattle, which apparently he did finish before his death.  The book is entitled Thunder Without Rain.  He quoted a few snippets of it here in some of his comments. Tom and I, therefore, shared that vocation, hunter, although he is much more traveled than I ever will be.  My only experience with cattle is with the domestic kind, which are of course occasionally wild.

Tom and I were also co-religious, although in his comments here he was vague on the topic.  I had the sense, although I didn't know him personally, that something had caused him to become nonobservant in our faith, although he obviously retained a deep knowledge of the faith and its traditions.  In response to a question of mine, he'd only noted that if Mass was still being held in the catacombs, he'd be there.  I noticed on his Sheridan funeral home listing, there was a short comment from "Fr. Jim", so he was obviously in contact somehow with a man of the Catholic cloth somewhere.  Whatever his status was, and it wasn't clear, I hope and pray that he was reconciled in the end and that this cheerful man passed with the peace he clearly daily exhibited.