Linda Ann McIntire

In a stunning and heart warming display of God’s mercy and grace, Linda A. McIntire, 73, of Grand Marais, died Saturday, September 6, 2025 at Essential St. Mary’s Hospital in Duluth in a way that was a direct answer to an earlier prayer.

Linda was born June 27, 1952 to Richard and Lucile (Jordan) Fregeau at the Naval Hospital in Portsmouth, Virginia. She graduated from Norfolk Christian School, and after college returned there to teach for 27 years. After meeting Dale McIntire, they married in 1990 and moved to Minnesota in 1991, and Grand Marais, in 1994 to minister at Cornerstone Community Church.

She enjoyed sewing, crafting, and card making, but most important to her was leading people to Jesus.

Two months prior to her death Linda was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. She found out, by the time she discovered what was causing her pain, the cancer was widespread and advanced. One evening while praying together with her husband, Linda wondered if she could make a special request of God. Knowing that we can ask our loving heavenly Father anything, and knowing that He always responds with what is best for His glory and our good, Linda asked, if this was her time to die and if it would please God, if she could die in her sleep before she had to endure the ravages and pain the metastatic disease would eventually bring.

A routine doctor appointment in Duluth on August 28th led to an ER visit which led to hospital admission which led to the discovery that an advanced lung condition was critically impeding her body’s ability to expel carbon dioxide. The situation was incurable and irreversible. The CO2 toxicity would eventually lead her into a sleep from which she would not awaken in this world.

Linda cried as we absorbed this news. She cried not because of her impending death but because God had answered exactly the prayer she had offered Him. If she was to die, she asked if it could be painlessly and in her sleep. That is exactly what God gave her. And she wanted you to know that the God Who made us and loves us and sent His Son to die for us still extends mercy, proves His reality, and answers prayer for those who believe.

Linda was preceded in death by her mother Lucile.

She is survived by her husband, Dale McIntire; her father, Richard Fregeau; a sister, Sally (David) Michael; a brother, Michael Fregeau; a nephew, three nieces; and a growing number of great-nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be from 6-8 PM on Tuesday, September 9, 2025 at Cornerstone Community Church in Grand Marais. Service will follow on Wednesday September 10th at 1 PM at the church. Burial will be Maple Hill Cemetery. To share a memory or leave an online condolence visit www.cavallinfuneralhome.com.

In lieu of flowers memorials are preferred to Cornerstone Community Church and will be used for expenses and to fund a ministry Linda loved to the extremely impoverished outside of Cairo, Egypt.