Rita Macintosh, speech therapist

Posted 6/2/11

Rita Gilbert Macintosh, 94, formerly of Mt. Airy, a retired speech therapist, died May 16 at her home in Cathedral Village. Mrs. Macintosh had been a speech therapist in the Upper Dublin School …

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Rita Macintosh, speech therapist

Posted

Rita Gilbert Macintosh, 94, formerly of Mt. Airy, a retired speech therapist, died May 16 at her home in Cathedral Village.

Mrs. Macintosh had been a speech therapist in the Upper Dublin School District until her retirement in 1981. She had worked at, among others, the Sandy Run Middle School and the Maple Glen Elementary School.

Earlier, she had been art director for the Container Corp. of America in Manayunk, where she had won several industry awards for her box designs.

Mrs. Macintosh had been one of the first to volunteer for the Waves, the women’s branch of the Navy during World War II. She had been working as an editor of the in-house publication at the Marshall Field department store in Chicago when she learned that the Navy was seeking Wave volunteers.

She was assigned to Navy headquarters in Washington, where she helped to write and edit the Waves’ recruitment brochure, “The Story of You in Navy Blue.”

While in Washington, she met her future husband, the late Hiram Macintosh, and the couple was married on June 3, 1944, three days before D-Day.

Born in Belvidere, Ill., Mrs. Macintosh was valedictorian of her class at Belvidere High School and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in speech Rockford College. In 1962 she received a master’s degree in speech pathology from Temple University.

During her lifetime, she had acted in and directed many plays and musicals and was an accomplished watercolorist.

In retirement, she and her husband operated Coach Light Antiques from their home in Mt. Airy, buying and selling goods at antique shows. After moving to Cathedral Village in 1996, Mrs. Macintosh became head of the art department and movie committee.

She is survived by a daughter, Laurie, and two grandchildren. Her husband died in 2000.

Memorial donations may be made to the Employee Fund, Cathedral Village, 600 E. Cathedral Rd., Philadelphia, PA 19128. – WF

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