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Douglas William Ridenour
October 19, 1956 - October 17, 2019
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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.
Condolences
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From: Ann Sharp
Steve…so very sorry to hear of Doug’s passing. Thinking of you at this time and sending my condolences with lots of love to you, Leslie & your parents.
From: Andy Simon Nielsen
Relation: Friend/Training Partner
Doug was my training partner in Cyclone Fighting Arts, or as he affectionately called it “Whack Whack”, for around twenty years sometimes it was consistent and many times there were extended breaks in our training. In our tradition the training partner who is having a technique applied to them is referred to as the Uke which we define as “the receiver of the gift”; I received many gifts from Doug physically but he also taught many life lessons some of which have only come to light in his passing:
Family -Doug was a family man and my children did not come along until after Doug and I had started to learn together. I still have vivid memories of Alex at some of our sessions in Doug’s yard since he was the youngest and around the most. Doug not only talked about his children’s successes and struggles but also gave me advice on how to try and build a good life for my own children.
*Take pride in your family
Time Management – One of the first things I saw in the Ridenour home was a large calendar where all of life’s activities were organized but this is not truly how Doug managed time. The thing I observed in Doug was that he truly valued time, he would make sure to make time for the things that were important to him never leaving to chance activities that could be planned. This is how he was able to travel, exercise, spend time with his children, volunteer at rowing events, sail, windsurf, practice martial arts, volunteer at schools (he loved smashing the car windows), build an addition, create the Pathfinder Book that I wish I had when I was out of cell range the other night, work and just do the things that were important. Heck he would even have me come to the Ambulance Station to train, God I was worried that he would get reprimanded or lose his job.
* Plan the important things.
Curiosity – Doug was very curious and we would often test the same technique over and over again session after session to ensure the theory worked and could be applied against resistance. We would learn a technique from our instructor Michael or at a seminar and then not only try and make it work but also try and make it fail once it worked well. After any seminar Doug wrote down detailed notes that we would use to try and ensure that he got the full value from the experience, his notes often surprised me with their depth. I hope to look at things more like Doug one of Doug’s great skills was never assuming that he knew something, in work he would stand back and observe and in martial arts he would test.
*Be curious.
Perfection – Doug always wanted to make sure techniques were done right and he truly drilled incessantly trying to make sure his technique was sharp, he truly wanted to master Cyclone’s curriculum. Doug would learn something at a seminar from a master and come back and teach it to me if I was not there, this truly required the patience of Job since where Doug is a perfectionist I am not and he would often have to pull me back from rushing a technique and not developing it properly before breaking it down.
*Do it right
Control – Doug was a great training partner because he had emotional control and maturity. It is rare to find a training partner who you can safely practice with without a third party. Doug and I rang each other’s bell on more than one occasion and blood was drawn many times but I never saw Doug lose control or become angry. Frustration with the learning process is normal but Doug would always keep this in check and I never saw him harm a training partner in anger.
*Be a good uke
Generosity – Many people have commented that Doug was cheap and I tend to agree, but I would like to reframe it as smart. Doug saved money wherever he could so that when he wanted to go on some adventure or try something new he had the money to do it; going to take the family cycling in Europe (money’s there), going to take up windsurfing (no problem), going to cycle across the United States from the Pacific to Cornell University in New York State (again not an issue). Doug also gave his time and volunteered at many events to help his local community, but I will always remember his adventurous side when someone would mention a seminar I would look at it from a time and finances side while Doug would get a glimmer in his eye and start talking about how travelling to this seminar could be an adventure.
*Be cheap and adventurous
Humble – Doug was humble and I learned many things about him at his celebration of life that I did not know. Over our many years of training together Doug only mentioned his education at UBC once and never brought up how good of a Sailor he was (though I did guess at it after he travelled down to crew a boat in the Bahamas). One of my greatest regrets is that he offered to take my family sailing when my children were still not in elementary school and I deferred since I had no idea how good of a sailor he was, this was truly only brought home at his service. Doug loved to tell all kinds of stories about things that happened, but he also loved to talk about the great things his family had done. Doug’s own accomplishments were rarely mentioned.
*Be humble
Self Reliance -Doug built so many things so easily small as padded training sticks and some as big as houses, even an addition to a garage where he can board a friend.
*Try to build it
Most importantly,
Be happy I think Doug was great at smiling and laughing every time I saw him, he lived in the moment and saw humour in many things.
*Live for the day
Rest in peace my friend
From: Andy Simon Nielsen
Relation: Friend/Training Partner
Doug was my training partner in Cyclone Fighting Arts, or as he affectionately called it “Whack Whack”, for around twenty years sometimes it was consistent and many times there were extended breaks in our training. In our tradition the training partner who is having a technique applied to them is referred to as the Uke which we define as “the receiver of the gift”; I received many gifts from Doug physically but he also taught many life lessons some of which have only come to light in his passing:
Family -Doug was a family man and my children did not come along until after Doug and I had started to learn together. I still have vivid memories of Alex at some of our sessions in Doug’s yard since he was the youngest and around the most. Doug not only talked about his children’s successes and struggles but also gave me advice on how to try and build a good life for my own children.
*Take pride in your family
Time Management – One of the first things I saw in the Ridenour home was a large calendar where all of life’s activities were organized but this is not truly how Doug managed time. The thing I observed in Doug was that he truly valued time, he would make sure to make time for the things that were important to him never leaving to chance activities that could be planned. This is how he was able to travel, exercise, spend time with his children, volunteer at rowing events, sail, windsurf, practice martial arts, volunteer at schools (he loved smashing the car windows), build an addition, create the Pathfinder Book that I wish I had when I was out of cell range the other night, work and just do the things that were important. Heck he would even have me come to the Ambulance Station to train, God I was worried that he would get reprimanded or lose his job.
* Plan the important things.
Curiosity – Doug was very curious and we would often test the same technique over and over again session after session to ensure the theory worked and could be applied against resistance. We would learn a technique from our instructor Michael or at a seminar and then not only try and make it work but also try and make it fail once it worked well. After any seminar Doug wrote down detailed notes that we would use to try and ensure that he got the full value from the experience, his notes often surprised me with their depth. I hope to look at things more like Doug one of Doug’s great skills was never assuming that he knew something, in work he would stand back and observe and in martial arts he would test.
*Be curious.
Perfection – Doug always wanted to make sure techniques were done right and he truly drilled incessantly trying to make sure his technique was sharp, he truly wanted to master Cyclone’s curriculum. Doug would learn something at a seminar from a master and come back and teach it to me if I was not there, this truly required the patience of Job since where Doug is a perfectionist I am not and he would often have to pull me back from rushing a technique and not developing it properly before breaking it down.
*Do it right
Control – Doug was a great training partner because he had emotional control and maturity. It is rare to find a training partner who you can safely practice with without a third party. Doug and I rang each other’s bell on more than one occasion and blood was drawn many times but I never saw Doug lose control or become angry. Frustration with the learning process is normal but Doug would always keep this in check and I never saw him harm a training partner in anger.
*Be a good uke
Generosity – Many people have commented that Doug was cheap and I tend to agree, but I would like to reframe it as smart. Doug saved money wherever he could so that when he wanted to go on some adventure or try something new he had the money to do it; going to take the family cycling in Europe (money’s there), going to take up windsurfing (no problem), going to cycle across the United States from the Pacific to Cornell University in New York State (again not an issue). Doug also gave his time and volunteered at many events to help his local community, but I will always remember his adventurous side when someone would mention a seminar I would look at it from a time and finances side while Doug would get a glimmer in his eye and start talking about how travelling to this seminar could be an adventure.
*Be cheap and adventurous
Humble – Doug was humble and I learned many things about him at his celebration of life that I did not know. Over our many years of training together Doug only mentioned his education at UBC once and never brought up how good of a Sailor he was (though I did guess at it after he travelled down to crew a boat in the Bahamas). One of my greatest regrets is that he offered to take my family sailing when my children were still not in elementary school and I deferred since I had no idea how good of a sailor he was, this was truly only brought home at his service. Doug loved to tell all kinds of stories about things that happened, but he also loved to talk about the great things his family had done. Doug’s own accomplishments were rarely mentioned.
*Be humble
Self Reliance -Doug built so many things so easily small as padded training sticks and some as big as houses, even an addition to a garage where he can board a friend.
*Try to build it
Most importantly,
Be happy I think Doug was great at smiling and laughing every time I saw him, he lived in the moment and saw humour in many things.
*Live for the day
Rest in peace my friend
Service Schedule
Celebration of Life
Date & Time:
December 16, 2019
Beginning at 2:30pm
Location:
Maple Bay Yacht Club
6337 Genoa Bay Road
Duncan, BC Canada V9L5Y4
6337 Genoa Bay Road
Duncan, BC Canada V9L5Y4
Memorial Gifts
The family has not designated a preferred charity at this time.
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