I awoke this morning to the sad news that Mrs. Henrietta Hines McIntosh had joined the ancestors and gone to glory.

As a child, Mrs. McIntosh walked with her mother from Elba Street to Vick Cemetery on Sunday afternoons to visit her father Charles Hines‘ grave. I first heard her story in May 2023, when she attended Vick Cemetery: Past, Present, Future as a guest of Mayor Carlton Stevens. In August of that year, I asked and Mrs. McIntosh graciously agreed to speak with a WRAL reporter about the ongoing injustice her family experienced due to decades of neglect and damage at Vick. A day later, she sat front and center at the Reconsecration ceremony we held at Vick Cemetery.

For more than two years after Reconsecration, Vick Cemetery was effectively sidelined, and Mrs. McIntosh was forced to continue to wait for the city to demonstrate respect for this sacred space. In early 2026, the wheels began to turn again with the creation of a descendant advisory council, and not two weeks ago we celebrated the progress made in reclaiming Vick Cemetery. The morning was chilly and wet, and Mrs. McIntosh did not venture out to join us, but her son Charles A. McIntosh delivered remarks on her behalf.

Mrs. McIntosh embodied ninety-nine years of wisdom, resilience, and hope. I am endlessly grateful that her long journey allowed her to witness the dawn of the positive changes she championed.

Rest in perfect peace, Henrietta Hines McIntosh. My deepest condolences to the Hines-McIntosh family and to all who loved her. Please know how deeply we share your loss.