Daniel Mcintosh

Daniel “Dan” Len McIntosh was born on April 7, 1956 in Clay Center, the son of Leonard and Genevieve (Frigon) McIntosh. He was the fourth and final child, following Patricia, Sherlyn, and David. To quote his mother’s words when describing Dan’s birth, “Dan was the only one born when we were already in town before his arrival. We had gone to Clay Center to visit with my brother Armond and his wife Arlene and family. We were at Armond & Arlene’s place when my contractions began. We stayed until I couldn’t put it off any longer. Only problem was that it was the 6th of April. Being the rational mother that I was, I refused to have Dan until the 7th. All the rest of this family was born on an odd number, so I wanted the same for this baby. Fortunately, Dan cooperated. I honestly don’t think that my desires were what decided the time for this baby to come into the world; but I was glad that Dan was born on the 7th.”
Dan was raised in the Oak Hill community on the farmstead in Ottawa county where Leonard and Genevieve farmed. In 1958, they added onto the shack they had all been living in and made it into the house that stands today. This remodel featured running water and the first in-house bathroom. At three years old, Dan was the first to use the in-house toilet. Growing up, Dan was a farm and ranch kid through and through. The family raised chicken, hogs, and milked cows in addition to growing crops, and hosted many cousins over the summers to help with the hay. He broke both arms after getting bucked off his horse, the first of many accidents and mishaps that he became known for throughout out his life as continually pushed the edge of both innovation and common sense. He went to Longford Grade School and Sunday school at Oak Hill Presbyterian Church and went to high school at Clay Center Community High School, graduating in 1974. After high school, Dan went to Manhattan Vo-Technical School for auto mechanics, and he worked in Salina for a short time before returning home to help with the farm as his father Leonard continued to battle rheumatoid arthritis. Some of the details of this phase of his life have been withheld from being retold to his children for their own protection, but photos and selected memories from friends from this time describe a long-haired, sometimes surly dare-devil who listened to Bachman Turner Overdrive 8-Tracks in his Chevelle.
In 1979, Dan married Nancy Hassenstab. They had two children together, Amanda Marie in December of 1986 and Luke Daniel in November of 1988. Amanda was nearly born in the car on the drive to Manhattan because Dan had to watch the end of the National Finals Rodeo. They lived in Oak Hill in Dan’s grandmother’s home. They moved out one mile west of Oak Hill in 1992, where Amanda and Luke grew up. During this time, Dan had cattle and crops but transitioned out of farming and began building custom fence throughout the area. He was an active member of the Longford Rodeo Club, volunteer fire fighter for the Oak Hill station, and a gifted woodworker who always had a “project” going on. Amanda and Luke spent their summer and weekends “helping” Dan and the cowboys in the area, working and driving cattle. They both learned to ride horses at an early age and sprayed countless thistles either horseback or in the Scout. Summers were also spent leading bucket calves or horses around the property getting ready for the county fair. In the latter years of farming, too much tractor time resulted in Dan dreaming up a wild west rodeo act in his head. He built an old-time wagon from his mind’s design, complete with pedal-driven fireworks explosions, homing pigeons, exploding moonshine, and a finale where the entire wagon split in half chariot style. He got his PRCA card and traveled across the country to rodeo performances with his horses Baxter, Bay, and Gus until the late 2000s. During this time, he also hand-built and painted a covered limo carriage, hiring out his services for weddings, special events, and bringing his daughter and her friends to their junior prom. Around then, he started driving part-time for Girton’s trucking company, eventually becoming full-time. He continued his hobbies with driving and riding horses on the side, buying a team of Belgians and breeding Amanda’s trusty barrel and cattle horse to a donkey in order to challenge himself breaking and driving a mule. Sometime between 2009 and 2011, after watching his two kids graduate high school and move on to get degrees in medicine from KU for Amanda and civil engineering for Luke from K-State, Dan noticed that his left leg wasn’t working as well as it once did, and his speech was getting harder to understand. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and continued to struggle with progressive symptoms for the next ten years.
In 2015, Dan and Nancy divorced, and Dan moved to the farmstead and home where he grew up after his mother Genevieve moved to an assisted living facility in Loveland, Colorado. He continued trucking for Girton’s. He started dating Lana Mall Pendergast, and they were married on November 21, 2018, witnessed by her daughter, Jordan Pendergast and his son, Luke McIntosh. They enjoyed trips to Colorado to visit family and see the mountains, raising chickens on the farm, watching sunsets, and making plans to remodel the home where Dan grew up to make it their own. His first grandchild was born February 8, 2019 to Amanda McIntosh and Scott Matson, in Denver, Colorado, and he was a very proud grandfather who was able to spend time with Rex Michael Matson on his 63rd birthday in April and Father’s Day in June 2019. On July 6, 2019, Dan was working to rebuild the pond dam at his farmstead in Ottawa County, after a spring of heavy rains caused considerable washout, and he died due to an accidental rollover in the tractor. He will be buried at Rose Meron Cemetery outside Oak Hill, Kansas on July 12, 2019 near his father, Leonard McIntosh. He is survived by his wife, Lana McIntosh of Oak Hill, KS, his mother, Genevieve McIntosh of Loveland, CO, his daughter, Amanda McIntosh and husband Scott Matson of Denver, CO, his son, Luke McIntosh of Overland Park, KS, his stepdaughter, Jordan Pendergast of Manhattan, KS, his sister, Patricia Ploegsma and husband Cappy of Colorado Springs, CO, his sister, Sherlyn Sampson and husband Gary of Loveland, CO, his brother, David McIntosh and wife Bonnie of Colorado Springs, CO, and grandson, Rex Matson, as well as multiple nieces, nephews, and friends from all walks of life. He is preceded in death by his father Leonard McIntosh and Tyler Pendergast. He will be missed by all for his story telling, creativity, generous spirit, and love of the country and cowboy lifestyle and we will think of him each time we see one of those Kansas sunsets he loved so much.

Funeral Services: Friday, July 12, 2019 at 10:00 AM at the Oak Hill Presbyterian Church in Oak Hill, KS

Minister: Pastor Roxie Baer

Burial: Rose Meron Cemetery, Oak Hill, KS

Visitation: Thursday, July 11, 2019 from 3:00-8:00 PM at Neill-Schwensen-Rook Funeral Home

Memorials: Daniel McIntosh Memorial c/o the funeral home