Floyd Hudson McIntyre and Kyle Olivia Laws are being honored this spring as the 2021 Junior Auxiliary of Columbus Charity Ball king and queen. As it did in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic prevented the nonprofit organization from holding its traditional ball presentation. The ongoing health issue did not, however, divert JA from its goal of contributing hundreds of service hours this past year that benefited the children of Lowndes County — or from recognizing others who make the community a better place to live.

Floyd Hudson McIntyre
Floyd Hudson McIntyre was born Feb. 8, 1947, the second son of the late Thomas John McIntyre Jr. and Margaret Louise McIntyre. His father worked in the family business, Tom McIntyre Plumbing. His mother was a 1936 graduate of Mississippi State College for Women and a charter member of Junior Auxiliary of Columbus. He was a narrator, along with the late David Davis Patty and Marilyn Miller Garner, in the 1959 Pilgrimage Pageant. His uncle, the late William H. McIntyre, and cousin, Marie McIntyre Barrett, were former Pilgrimage royalty.

McIntyre was an honor graduate of Stephen D. Lee Senior High, Class of 1965. As a senior, he was selected Rotary Club Boy of the Month for September, and he received the Danforth Foundation award for citizenship/leadership and was a member of the 1965 Pilgrimage Ball Court. He was cast as Simon Loeb in the 50th anniversary of the JA Pilgrimage Ball, and the next year returned to the cast as one of four voluptuous can-can-girls, along with Dr. Sammie Wilcox, the late Rodney Sheffield and the late Doug Holland.

He graduated from the University of Mississippi in August 1969 with majors in English and political science. He was a member of Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity and served as vice president and Rush chairman. He married the late Beverly Holmes McIntyre Sept. 3, 1977, at Annunciation Catholic Church. She was a life member of Junior Auxiliary at her death.

In September 1988, McIntyre went to work for the late Willis N. Puckett II at Memorial Funeral Home as the bookkeeper. He retired Dec. 31, 2020, after 32 years, as the office manager of the Second Avenue North location.

Active in community
McIntyre enlisted in the United States Army Reserves in May 1971 and retired as a Sergeant First Class from the United States Army at Camp Shelby on his 60th birthday. He also served in the Mississippi and Alabama Army National Guard. He served one tour of active duty in Iraq at Abu Ghraib as senior intel analyst.

McIntyre is a communicant of Annunciation Catholic Church and serves as Eucharistic minister. He also is a member of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, a ministry to the needy and the homeless.

He has been a member of the Kiwanis Club of Columbus since 1988, serving as secretary-treasurer for almost 19 of those years. He is also a former president and served two terms as lieutenant governor of Division 10C and is currently a member of the board. He was also honored with a Walter Zeller Fellowship in 2019.

He is an active member of the Columbus Emmaus Community, having served as vice president and president of the Columbus Community.

He is a longtime member of the Military Affairs Committee of the Columbus-Lowndes Chamber of Commerce and served as chairman for 2018-2020 Chamber years. He is also a member of the Base Community Council.

McIntyre is a secretary of the board of the Last House on the Block, a sober-living home for men in Columbus.

Kyle Olivia Laws
Kyle Olivia Laws is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Russell Laws Sr. and the sister of William Laws. She is the granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. Marion Wesley Simpson of Laurel, Mrs. Richard Reuben Laws Sr. and the late Mr. Laws of Columbus.

She is a 2017 graduate of Heritage Academy, where she earned honors and awards for her outstanding leadership, service and character. She received The Spencer Perkins Scholarship Award and served as senior class vice president.

Laws was a member of the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Honor Society. She was selected among the Heritage Academy Elite of the senior class as “Friendliest Girl”, Class Favorite sophomore, junior and senior year, sophomore homecoming maid, senior Student Government Association homecoming maid and captain of the Varsity Cheerleader team.

Throughout high school she also volunteered for school and community service projects with the “reading buddy” program at Franklin Elementary School and Columbus Children’s Clinic Read to Patients Program as part of the Heritage Academy Literacy Legacy Senior Project.

Laws is a member of Main Street Presbyterian Church of Columbus. She attended Reformed Youth Ministry summer conferences and the North Mississippi Chrysalis Walk. She also served as a Chrysalis Team member in the summer during high school.

She is a senior at The University of Mississippi. She will graduate in May with a Bachelor of Journalism degree in Integrated Marketing Communications with a minor in General Business and a Specialization in Fashion Promotion and Media.

Laws was selected to participate in Explorations in New York City, where she spent a week touring various fashion magazine headquarters. She is an active member of UM Fashion Society. She is a journalist, photographer and a member of the Creative Team for the Ole Miss fashion magazine “Square.” Olivia was a social media/marketing summer intern at Danielle Nicole in New York City.

She is a recent alumni member of Chi Omega Sorority, Tau Chapter. While an active member of Chi Omega, she was involved with Make-A-Wish Foundation, a participant in Blair E. Batson’s Children’s Hospital fundraisers and a contributor to the Oxford Women’s Health Care Initiative. She is an active member of Ole Miss Reformed University Fellowship.

Working with children
Laws mentors weekly at Kids Club through Grace Bible Church in Oxford. She tutors children of Oxford/Lafayette County twice weekly, helping them with homework, projects, tests and reading assignments. Her time at Kids Club has been such a blessing to her, and she has developed a great love for working with children in need.

Laws’ accomplishments span diverse roles, communities and services. She uses her talents, kindness, compassion and love for others in all she does and demonstrates that by giving back and blessing others.

She continues to exhibit these traits by her many works with children in the Columbus and Oxford communities. She truly is a “messenger to the hearts without a home, to lives without love, and the crowds without a guide.”

Past 10 years Junior Auxiliary of Columbus Charity Ball Kings and Queens
2011 Mr. John Thompson Bean III
Miss Madeline Frances Hardy

2012 Mr. Raymond Michael Waters III
Miss Kendyl Diane Hall

2013 John Eugene Reed Jr.
Miss Margaret Fairfax Davis

2014 Mr. Elton Sigrest Thomas Jr.
Miss Madison Ann Ford

2015 Mr. Thomas Leyton (Bud) Phillips
Miss Caroline Emily Borland

2016 Mr. Thomas Evans Whitaker
Miss Anna Gaines Gaskin

2017 Mr. George Stephenson Hazard Jr.
Miss Margaret Jane Butler

2018 Mr. Jerryld Reau Berry
Miss Ashley Megill Imes

2019 Mr. Fred Miller Hayslett
Miss Mary Helen Porter

2020 Dr. David Kennon Curtis Sr.
Miss Elizabeth Mixson Bateman