Randy McIntosh, born on Valentine 's Day 1952, a quietly ingenious creator and the beloved center of her family, died on Sept. 23, 2026. She chose her identity and the kind of life she wanted to lead early, leaving behind her birth name of Alice Jean Beavers when she left Miami, Florida, after high school. Randy learned to sew from her older sister Lynda at age nine, and she sewed both for a living and for pleasure until weeks before her death. She met the love of her life, K.G. “Tosh” McIntosh, playing frisbee on the second day of college in 1971. They left the University of South Florida together in 1972 and transformed a 1963 F100 pickup truck into their traveling home affectionately named “33.” Over the next two years, they explored all corners of the US, regularly picking up hitch-hikers and seeing how other people lived.
They found Cleveland, Ga., to their liking on July 4, 1976, and began building a home, made almost entirely of “up-cycled” and reclaimed materials, where they raised their most joyous creation, their daughter, Teigan.
Together, Randy and Tosh found great pleasure in creating a truly customized home on top of a hill, and spent decades imaginatively shaping it to their needs and the delight of their family, friends, and visitors. The compound at the top of Randy Road is a work of art in the midst of carefully crafted nature.
Randy often said “my invisibility is my super-power,” an acknowledgement that she was shy but happy to make contributions to her community, and the world. As one of the original seamstresses for the “Little People” that eventually became a worldwide phenomenon as Cabbage Patch Kids, Randy knew that her work sewing those faces had delighted millions of children. Her career as lead seamstress for HEAD Balloons was the highlight of her professional life, 27 years during which she sewed thousands of miles of straight seams, creating more than 250 hot air balloons that have flown around the world, bringing happiness to many more millions of people.
Ballooning repeatedly took her to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta and to Europe, representing HEAD Balloons internationally. At the recent Helen to the Atlantic balloon race, Randy estimated that she had made 20 of the 22 balloons participating. For friends and family, she sewed sails that have traveled to far oceans, quilts, reusable shopping bags made with remnants of hot air balloon fabric, and she followed the age-old tradition of natural-fiber basket weaving.
Randy's faith was important to her, and she both found and created community at Cleveland United Methodist Church. At the Sautee Nacoochee Center, she and Tosh regularly contributed their time, treasures, and talents for decades. She also enjoyed many international adventures, with Slovenia, Italy, and Costa Rica topping the list - a love of travel is one of the many things that they are proud to have passed down to their daughter.
Her loyalty, inventiveness, wisdom, exacting standards, remarkable memory, sharp wit, keen observation skills - including the ability to spot four-leaf clovers with ease - and her unwavering commitment to getting things right made Randy a deeply valued friend among a large circle, where she could often be found, quietly watching and smoking, and contributing at just the right moment.
Randy is preceded in death by her father, Coy Lee Beavers, mother, Mary Lynn, and brother, Shaw; and survived by her husband of 54 years, Kenneth Gene (KG or Tosh) McIntosh; sister, Lynda Carver and husband, Robert; daughter Teigan Lea Galloway, son-in-law Troy Galloway, and grandchildren Phoebe Kennedy, Graham Waldron and Isaac McIntosh Galloway.
The family will hold a private celebration of life for family and friends. In lieu of flowers, please donate to Habitat for Humanity or the charity of your choice in Randy's memory.
White County News · Cleveland, Georgia
October 1, 2026
Randy McIntosh
