Lorenzo from AZ

UNCLE DOUG'S PASSING - His history

(It's not often I get to give a Top Ten list and then get the congregation to break into a showtune at a funeral.)

Here are my remarks

INTRO
Hi, my name is Lorin. Doug is my uncle.

I don’t want you to think I have a big ego or anything, but if it weren’t for me, I don’t that we would have gotten to know Doug for some or all of his 58 years.

Let me explain. I was born in 1946. Grandma Fern was holding my mom’s hand during a difficult delivery, and finally I was born. Great news. Sort of. Fern realized that she was now a 36 year old grandmother. We all know how Grandma viewed that age thing. So Grandma promptly went home, bought new patio furniture, told Grandpa that she was too young to be a grandmother, and 9 months later, Douglas Lynn was born. My uncle.

The fact that we always had the 9 months difference affected our relationship. I would always play the 9 month older and wiser card when we would disagree about something, but Doug would always say “So what? I’m your UNCLE.” It was as if uncle trumped age.

He could be powerfully persuasive. I must have given in to his grasp of logic early on. Mom tells of finding me and Doug as toddlers on the floor, and Doug was feeding me a cockroach that he had convinced me to eat.

KNOW-IT-ALL

Doug was a veritable cornucopia of data bits and factoids.

Or as Doug might say “Cornucopia, that comes from Greek Mythology. And is the horn of the goat that suckled Zeus, which broke off and became filled with fruit. In folklore, it became full of whatever its owner desired.” That would be Doug-like.

Clearly he was a Trivial Pursuit master, and there was nothing trivial about his desire to win. You just hoped that he was on your team.

Growing up as a kids, he always seemed to know more about everything. I thought he MUST be making some of this stuff up, but he was mostly right on.

His favorite TV show was “Alex, I’ll take Obscure Musical History for $250” -- Jeopardy. He would tend to get a teeny bit irritated at some of the slower contestants, particularly after he had already shouted out the correct QUESTION.

MUSIC

In his teen years as part of the Mesa Imps and early adult years music was his whole life, whether playing in his band The Looking Glass or even moving pianos for Milanos. By the way, he knew how to use the laws of physics to balance and pivot large pianos.

He had a wonderful voice like his Dad, and he could play about any instrument. In fact he was known to have played two wind instruments simultaneously. The big show off!

He happened to be at one of my family’s Christmas Eve event years ago, and somehow we were talking about how Christmas brings us all together. Before long, because my family knows way too many show tunes, we had morphed the getting along concept into singing “Oh the Farmer and Cowman Should Be Friends” and then segued into “Oh What a Beautiful Morning”—all tunes from Oklahoma. So Doug helped my Shelley Family define its signature musical, albeit at an usual time.

SCHOOL AND MISSION

Mr. Know-it-all was a hit at Westwood High where he graduated in 1965. His junior year he was Student Body President, and played in the band and was in choir. His good friend, Robert succeeded him in the following year, so Westwood had a nexus of intellect and leadership while Doug and Robert were there.

Soon after High School, Doug accepted a missionary call to Japan in 1967. I happened to be down in Argentina on my mission at the time, and it was fun to mail each other letters from out different parts of the world. (Letters were those things we used before e-mail). Soon after we were all back in the States, he invited me over for authentic Japanese cuisine. And convinced me that I had to eat the raw eggs and raw fish which he called “Sushi.” See, he got me to eat weird stuff AGAIN. But that was the way Doug was.

CAREER

His career was as varied and interesting as HE was.

· He was in a professional band, the Looking Glass for years.

· He taught music.

· He got into mortgage finance and investments on a number of different occasions.

· He drove a truck for Allied Concrete for years—which he thoroughly enjoyed

· He finished up college in 1999 with a degree in Political Science.

· He started teaching in the Mesa School district, and he seemed to have found a career joy of his life.

INTERESTS & HUMOR

Doug would devour non-fiction books and articles. He felt with all the information to amass, why bother with fiction. Chris finally got him to read a couple of novels, but novels would be so non-Doug. He loved History, and let’s face it, there’s just so much of it. So that was his joy.

He had a great sense of humor. He (unlike me) had graduated from all the laugh-so-hard-that-we-shoot-Barq’s Root Beer-out-our-nose toilet humor that we enjoyed so much as kids. His humor now was much more like my Dad’s—subtle, witty, and ironic.

And he loved a good pun. The bigger the groan, the bigger grin on Doug’s face.

FAMILY

Doug was married to Chris in 1971, and they were married for 14 years. The fruit of his loins was Eric and Mandy. He liked to use that term. These two who had been such a big part of his life earlier, were so much a comfort towards the end. Chris and Doug remained friends after the divorce, even during all the ups and downs of other marriages. What’s life without a little drama I guess?

And Chris too was there at Hospice, helping Doug, as he took his last labored breath. We’re all family.

<>TOP TEN LIST
THINGS THAT ARE GONNA BE DIFFERENT NOW

10. Stupid Jeopardy contestants on TV will not be insulted and shouted at.

9. We’re going to have to rely more on the "internets" now as our knowledge base and not call Uncle Doug.

8. Doug’s band, The Looking Glass, will not be able to do the geezer rocker reunion tour.

7.` No new drama from another marriage.

6. Lorin’s not going to be forced to eat anything that’s weird.

5. Mom’s not going to have to worry about Doug spying across the street when her boyfriends call.

4. Some Trivial Pursuit cards are permanently missing. What?

3. One less contestant for the Kenny Rogers celebrity look-alike event.

2. Jeopardy will come up with a special honorary category: STUFF DOUG DOESN’T KNOW.

1. Doug is at peace and doesn’t hurt anymore.

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

I think Doug would enjoy a little improvisation and tribute to his love of music and memory. Please join me in the last refrain of this song from Oklahoma.

And I don’t have Doug’s voice, so you will need to help me.

Oh what a beautiful morning,
Oh what a beautiful day,
I’ve got a beautiful feeling,
Everything’s going my way.

Oh what a beautiful
Oh what a beautiful
Oh what a beautiful,
Beautiful Day.<>

Good bye, Uncle Doug.