Tribute

Doug was tenacious, creative, and proactive with a zest for adventure and a particular knack for wry dad-humour. He was an integral part of the Cowichan Valley community; he went to school here, and worked here as a paramedic for over 30 years. He volunteered locally with the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the PARTY program at the hospital. Doug was a member of the Maple Bay Yacht club for 55 years, starting at the age of 8 whipping through the waves in a tiny sabot boat. He spent years racing his Lightning in regattas. Many of us will keep his passion project and side-business, the “Pathfinder Road Index”, in the side pockets of our car doors for years to come in hopes that it will help us navigate forward without him.

In his youth, Doug was involved in many sports including soccer, rugby, curling and middle distance running. While earning a degree at UBC Vancouver, he supported himself by lifeguarding on the beaches near campus which later morphed into a career as a paramedic. During his years at UBC he took up rowing and cycling, passions which carried throughout the rest of his life. At age 23 he cycled from Vancouver to San Francisco. He would later make many trips to Europe, spending over 18 months cycling there, conquering everything from the small flat roads of the Netherlands to the gargantuan mountain passes of Switzerland.

Doug made things happen in a subtle, supportive and yet, very stubborn way. He wanted a rowing shell, so he built one. He wanted a boat, so he built a Folk boat that he sailed all over Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and beyond. He wanted a house for his family, so he built one. He wanted to bring his family along on his cycling adventures, and so somehow he got a 3-year-old, a 6-year-old and a 9-year-old thousands of kilometers across Europe on bikes.

Doug was a Super-Dad-Extrordinaire, and he led by example. He helped all three of his children succeed on the national and world stage in rowing and notably took the training wheels off their bikes and taught them to ride in a straight line while hauling 50 lbs of luggage on it. He taught all three to sail, and his daughter taught at the sailing school at MBYC for several years. Doug never lost sight of what was important to him; when his eldest son moved to Ithaca, New York to study at Cornell University, Doug cycled over 3,000 miles to meet him for a pizza, enduring hailstones the size of golf balls and extreme storms to make it there. Most recently, he cycled down the west coast of the USA in May 2019, retracing his route taken nearly 30 years ago. He taught his children to build their own sense of adventure, and more importantly to meet life with laughter. He took great care in helping others succeed, and was a patient and conscientious teacher. His extraordinary wit and humour lives on in all three of his children and is remembered by all who knew him.

It was Doug’s love of the sea and sailing that continued to draw him home, and the same united him with his partner Jane. Together they sailed and embraced their shared love of traveling.

He will be missed without measure by his partner Jane, his parents Pat and Ken, his three children Stephanie, Nicholas and Alex, siblings Lesley Hartford (Cam) and Steve (Dina) and large extended family and friends. We who loved him will miss him always. We wish him tailwinds and full sails.

A Celebration of Life will take place on Monday December 16, 2019 from 2:30pm – 5:30pm at the Maple Bay Yacht Club 6337 Genoa Bay Road, Duncan, B.C.

In lieu of flowers, donations to the Michael J. Fox Foundation, the Heart and Stroke Foundation, World Bicycle Relief or charity of your choice are appreciated.