Marc “Mac” McIntyre was fond of Hawaiian shirts and had amassed a huge collection. So it was fitting that his friends and loved ones wore them to say goodbye Friday. Even his pastor wore one to his memorial service, a bright purple shirt with orange blossoms.
A photo of McIntyre wearing such an aloha shirt stood in front of his U.S. flag-draped casket inside Griffin First Assembly’s cavernous sanctuary. Uniformed police officers from across the country filed up to his casket and saluted. Gov. Brian Kemp and First Lady Marty Kemp watched from the front row.
“What I was told is that this was about the only thing you could find Marc in out of uniform. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 40-plus Hawaiian shirts hang in the laundry room and in his closet,” said Stephen Dervan, lead pastor of Oak Hill Church near Griffin. “And many of them that you see today actually don’t belong to the wearers. But they are his.”
Credit: Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason.Getz@ajc.com
McIntyre, 55, a sergeant with the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office, was fatally shot on Dec. 29 while responding to a request for a welfare check on Deason Street just outside of Griffin. Todd Harper, 57, was charged with murder and booked into the Spalding Jail after a standoff with authorities, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Credit: Spalding County Sheriff's Office
Credit: Spalding County Sheriff's Office
McIntyre served eight years in the U.S. Army, reaching the rank of sergeant. He had previously been dispatched to Harper’s home and had learned that Harper was a fellow military veteran, Spalding Sheriff Darrell Dix said.
“The whole reason I believe that he was there is he was a veteran who was trying to help another veteran,” Dix said. “It was my understanding that he had answered calls out there before and had gotten to know the guy on a first-name basis. And he was, I guess, thinking, ‘If anybody can talk to him and get him calmed down, it could be me because we know each other, we have a rapport, we have commonalities.’”
Harper served with the U.S. Air Force for 20 years until 2004 and was a technical sergeant, according to the military. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs declined to comment about Harper, citing privacy reasons and the continuing law enforcement investigation. But the Atlanta VA Health Care System said, “The recent shooting deeply saddens us, and our thoughts are with the loved ones affected by the devastating loss as a result of this tragedy.”
Friends remembered McIntyre as fun-loving and affectionate, the kind of guy who gave big hugs and planted kisses on his friends’ cheeks. Children gravitated toward him.
Justin Zambujo, a close friend who works as an investigator for the Spalding Sheriff’s Office, remembered how McIntyre jokingly introduced himself to Zambujo’s parents: “He let them know that I was the boyfriend and that we were getting married.”
McIntyre previously attended Rock Springs Church in Milner. In an interview Thursday, Senior Pastor Benny Tate called him a “servant of the people.”
“He served people in every way that he possibly could. He wore the badge with honor,” Tate said. “He felt like he was called to this. And I truly believe that he was.”
Tate added, “I have always believed that it is not the duration of a life that really counts. It is the donation of a life that really counts. And he lived each day of his life as a donation to others. He was a fine man. We lost a hero.”
Also this week, Casey Ellerbee of Thomaston remembered McIntyre graciously introducing himself to her in 2020 when she handled medical care for detainees in the Spalding Jail.
“It was just like I had known him my whole life,” she said. “He just welcomed me to the family. He told me that if I needed anything, he would be there for me.”
McIntyre was among five Georgia law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty in 2023 and among a recent spate of losses. On Thursday, Coweta County Sheriff’s Deputy Eric Minix, 31, was struck by a Lanett (Alabama) Police Department car and killed after he got out of his patrol car following the pursuit of a stolen vehicle that had crossed into Alabama. His funeral is Monday. Also Thursday, Atlanta Police Department Officer Kenya Galloway, 44, died after experiencing a medical issue just as he was about to start his shift.
Lt. Michael Storey of the Spalding Sheriff’s Office said he heard a few colleagues wavering about their jobs recently, indicating they weren’t sure if they wanted to continue. Gazing at the hundreds of police officers assembled in the church to honor McIntyre Friday, he urged them not to give up.
“I know times like these are hard. And I know that a lot of you in the past, maybe even now, have thought about quitting,” he said before reciting Galatians 6:9: “Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not lose heart.
He added, “So do not lose heart. Marc wouldn’t want you to lose heart. I know Marc wouldn’t lose heart.”
The governor issued an executive order in McIntyre’s honor this week, calling for U.S. and state flags to be flown at half-staff at the State Capitol and in Spalding County Friday.
Credit: Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason.Getz@ajc.com
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