Moores Hill family loses second child to H1N1 virus

Wanda English Burnett, Editor

The small community of Moores Hill has received another devastating blow with the news that the McIntosh family has lost a second child to the H1N1 virus, only the third death in the entire state of Indiana.

Melinda Gayle “Mindy” McIntosh, 26, lost her battle after fighting it since the first part of July. According to Ripley Publishing Co. files, her brother, Matthew, died July 5, also at the University Hospital in Cincinnati, from complications from the H1N1 virus. He was the first death from the virus in the state that was originally known as the Swine Flu.

Mindy was a 2001 graduate of South Dearborn High School and was employed part time this summer at Dillsboro IGA. She had plans to attend Ivy Tech College this fall to study accounting.

A member of the Emanuel Lutheran Church in Greendale, the Moores Hill woman was described as being “a big hearted, sweet gal.”

Friends of the family told The Versailles Republican they were shocked by her death as she had improved and was in good spirits over the weekend. Her sudden turn for the worse was devastating to this family who has already suffered so much.

Funeral services are set for Friday, July 31 at 11:00 a.m. at the Emanuel Lutheran Church in Greendale. Visitation will be tonight, July 30 from 5-8 p.m. at the church with a time for remembrances by her friends at 8 p.m.. Visitation will also be held at the church from 9 a.m. until service time. Burial will be at the St. Johns Lutheran Cemetery in Napoleon. Filter-DeVries Funeral Home, Dillsboro, is in charge of the arrangements. See full obituary inside today’s paper.

You can make a donation to the family at any branch of The Friendship State Bank, where a fund has been established for the family.

The Indiana State Department of Health released information that another person has died from the H1N1 influenza in Lake County. The last report showed 291 confirmed cases in the state, and now the third death.

The state health department continues to work with the Department of Homeland Security and local health departments as well as local emergency management agencies to prepare for the possibility of mass vaccinations before the fall flu season.