Rev. J. M. McIntosh, devoted to family

THE REV. JAMES Monroe McIntosh had five daughters and when each reached age 16, he took her out to a nice restaurant for a "birds and bees" discussion.

He made it a special treat because he wanted to show his daughters how they should expect to be treated by the future men in their lives.

"It was our coming- out," said one of those daughters, Cassandra Ann Byrd.

James McIntosh, who also had three sons, was founder and pastor emeritus of New Covenant Baptist Church, Wayne Avenue and Queen Lane, and a Baptist preacher for more than 40 years.

He died April 5 at the age of 84. He lived in Wynnefield.

James was born to Tommy Lee McIntosh and the former Pearl Chesterfield, and was reared on the family's 60-acre farm in Bourbon, Miss.

He worked in the cotton fields and with the livestock, although one family wit said that with his gift of gab, James probably talked his way out of most of the labor.

He arrived in Philadelphia in 1944, and married the former Roberta Jackson in 1946. He worked at the main post office for about 15 years.

James' early life on the farm was the fodder for many stories from this master conversationalist and storyteller.

His grandkids (he had 16) would clamber around him begging for stories.

"Tell us a story, Grandpop," they would say. "What was it like when you were a kid? Did you ride a mule?"

The family visited that farm every year and held family reunions, attended by as many as 150 family members, every other year.

James did have a gift of gab, which stood him in good stead when he began preaching the Gospel at Baptist churches in Philadelphia. He was ordained a Baptist minister in 1965.

He was pastor of St. Phillip's Baptist Church, 6th Street and Girard Avenue, for 11 years before founding New Covenant, which he served until he couldn't make the trip anymore.

He retired about 10 years ago, then joined Vine Memorial Baptist, at 56th Street and Girard Avenue, because it was closer to home.

James was president of the Baptist Ministers Conference in 1977, and was a member of the Progressive National Baptist Convention for many years. As such, he traveled around the country to its yearly conventions.

As a member of the Baptist Foreign Mission Bureau in the '70s, he traveled to Korea, upsetting his children.

"We were crying," Cassandra said. "What if something happened to our dad? We were mad at him."

But their father returned safely. It was his only overseas trip.

James loved to pile his large family into his nine-passenger station wagon and drive interminable distances, back to Mississippi, or even to California.

"I hated those trips," Cassandra said. "I swore that when I got older, I would never drive anywhere. And I don't.

"We used to say, 'Can't we take a plane?' Do we have to drive?' At every stop, we'd say, 'Are we there yet?' "

But James was devoted to his children, and took them to restaurants and on shopping trips to the 69th Street strip in Upper Darby.

"If we heard of a new restaurant, we'd tell him about it and he'd say, 'OK, we'll make a date.' He loved to take us out."

James was a passionate book collector. His study in the basement was lined on every wall with books, and there were more books elsewhere in the house.

Even after he became ill, he was still ordering books, Cassandra said. And he was very possessive of them. On the flap of each he would write, "The Library of Reverend James McIntosh."

"He had a big heart," his daughter said.

"He tried to help everybody, especially the downtrodden."

As a family man, "he loved having everyone around," she said.

"Even after they were grown up, the grandkids knew they could always go stay with grandpop."

And he'd probably tell them once again about the mules.

Besides his wife and daughter, he is survived by four other daughters, Rita Griffin, Constance D. Geddy, Jacqueline Moody and Doretha Taylor; three sons, Henry Lewis McIntosh, James Monroe McIntosh Jr. and Tommy Lee McIntosh; two brothers, the Rev. John E. McIntosh and the Rev. Moses McIntosh; three sisters, Annie Pearl Braboy, Doretha Gilbert and Ruby Fink; 16 grandchildren, and 19 great-grandchildren.

Services: 11 a.m. tomorrow at Vine Memorial Baptist Church, 56th Street and Girard Avenue. Friends may call at 9 a.m. Burial will be in Merion Memorial Park, Bala Cynwyd. *