Mary Kintzele has been telling the history of the Barker Mansion for over 24 years. February 27th was her last day as the building’s tour guide, housekeeper, and doctor. It was a bittersweet day: the end of an era but the beginning of another piece of Mary’s own history.
Meeting the Barker family was different than Mary expected it to be. She saw an ad in the paper for a job at the Mansion and knew that her passion for history made her a great candidate. She did wonder, however, at what her employers would be like.
“They were generous people,” Mary said. “When you are not well off you look at rich people and wonder what they must be like. But when I met the Barkers, they were just like me.”
Mary fell in love with the house, and it with her.
“I understand the building. It and I are both old,” she said with a smile.
They shared many experiences. Mary was there for every ailment, every broken pipe and leaky roof. When she spent three days snowed in, the Mansion provided her with books to read and movies to watch. Guests would come to the tours and events like their live Clue game or one room school model.
“Tours are a way of introducing school children to our ancestors. And for older people, it makes us come alive and remember the past. I love the hand craftsmanship that went into work, years ago. Machines speed things up. But when men create things with their own hands… there is something warm in that.”
The Barker Mansion had become a major part of Mary’s life and she was sad to move on. Her art awaits her, though, and opportunities to volunteer at the Lighthouse Museum or Shelburg Farms.
“Through all my time, I always had my art.”
Mary began drawing at six, at her home in Missouri. She lived on a farm with her grandparents until a merger of her public school made it unreasonable to attend. In 1952, she moved into her mother’s house in Michigan City. She was 15 years old. She met her husband at her very first job, not three weeks after moving.
“I fell in love with the city,” Mary said. “I went to the lake and it was so beautifully blue that you could see your feet in it. The people were so friendly and loving. We’ve kind of come away from that but I have faith in us.”
The next part of Mary’s journey was motherhood. She stayed home to raise her 8 children and rejoined the workforce in order to help them pay for college, two decades later.
“It was very important to me that all my children have an education. That is the only way we can move forward as a civilization, is to learn.”
She got a job working with NAPP but had to quit when illness struck her. Being sick made Mary depressed, and homesick. Her son, a member of the cross country team at his high school, saw an opportunity for his mother whilst on a run through the hills. Shelburg Farms was hiring.
Mary worked at Shelburg for five years, giving guided tours to children and the elderly. It reminded her of home in Missouri. It also allowed her to work with animals, a great tool in the world of therapy.
“I think people who don’t appreciate animals are missing out. They have so much love to give and require nothing in return. Even on your worst days, they keep on loving you.”
Many things are changing for Mary. New opportunities, new artwork, and new grandchildren await her. The Barker Mansion is changing as well. The new director is bringing commerce to its doors and providing guests with wedding venues and conference rooms. They may be parting ways but no matter where the future takes them, Mary and Barker Mansion will always share their history.