BERNE — By all accounts, Kay Maureen McIntyre was a spirited person who never lost her zest for life. She died at her home Saturday, July 16, 2016, after a “courageous battle with cancer,” her family said.  She was 66.

The youngest of 10 children, she was born in Albany on Nov. 19, 1949, to Morris and Catherine (née Enos) Below. Her family says both of her parents died when Mrs. McIntyre  was still a child and she grew up in a succession of relatives’ homes.  Her education was cut short, as well.

This initial hardship may have given her more compassion for others, which she most recently demonstrated by taking it upon herself to go to food pantries to pick up food supplies for persons who could not get to the food pantries themselves.

“She was an angel put on earth,” says her son Harold Mann. “Whether she knew you a day or her whole life, she was always willing to go out of her way to help you.”

His own favorite memory of her goes back to when he was 8 years old, and finally got the new bike he yearned for.  First up to ride the bike, though, was not himself but rather his mother, who was pregnant at the time.

Mrs. McIntyre, through her work, became a well-known figure at several Dunkin’ Donuts locations in the Capital District.

“She loved people,” her son said. “She got to know the customers and they got to know her.”

The  Dunkin’ Donuts franchise group for which she worked for more than 20 years , until she retired two years ago, presented her with a plaque not long ago, honoring her for providing great customer service for so many years.

“She may have had little education,” her son says, “but she had great determination. If you told her, no she couldn’t, she proved you wrong.”

Mrs. McIntyre loved to be on the go – up to and including her last Mother’s Day outing with her family this year.

Her  eight children, 22 grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren were a great joy to her. Her son remembers how she would make Easter baskets every year for all the children.

“Kay had a special way of touching the lives of everyone she met,” her family wrote in tribute. They credit her “generosity and caring nature” for this ability.

“If she knew you needed something, “ her son says, “she'd give her last dime to make sure you had it. Even if that meant she went without.”

Mrs. McIntyre took great pleasure in collecting,  with candles and angels being her principal collections. And flea markets being her favorite place to find them. “She must have had 150 angels,” her son says.

One more has been added. While at the funeral home, her daughter  noticed a decorative urn supported by an angel. She asked if she might buy it, and she did.

It will be filled, her family says, with her ashes — all but a small amount that will be divided among medallions for her children. And then the urn will be placed where all will be reminded of Kay.

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Kay Maureen McIntyre is survived by her eight children: Lawrence Mann Jr.; Kay Mann; Timothy Mann; Harold Mann; Donna (née McIntyre) Ferraino and her husband, Bob; June (née McIntyre) Rodriguez and her husband, Victor; and John McIntyre. She is also survived by her sisters:  Martha Davenport and her husband, Ray; and Laura Risti. And she is survived by 22 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Her parents and her husband, Lawrence Mann Sr., died before her. Her brothers — John Below, Frank Below,  and Martin Below— and her sisters Theresa Barcomb, Elizabeth Ruth, Nettie Kelsch, and Fredica Hedgeman— also died before her.

Calling hours were held Wednesday, July 16, at Fredendall Funeral Home, Altamont.

Memorial donations may be made to the The Community Hospice, Gift Processing Center, 310 South Manning Blvd., Albany, NY 12208

— Tim Tulloch