Richard Michael Douglas

Richard "Dick" Douglas died peacefully on December 16, 2023 in West Seattle, WA at the age of 94.

Dick is survived by his loving wife of 70 years, Gladyne; his sister Carolyn Titus; five children: Debbie, Steve (Terry), Deanne “Coco”, Susie (John), David (Laura); eleven grandchildren: Curtis Jr. (Sara), Dennon, Chad, Rory (Laura Belle), Brady (Samantha), Jake, Natalie (Nate), Jason, Matthew, Benjamin, and William; and four great-grandchildren: Curtis III, Cormac, Augustin, and Jett.

Dick was born in 1929 in Monroe, WA to Raymond “Bus” and Helen Douglas. He spent the first 12 years of his life in Sultan, Washington at the base of the Cascade Mountain range where he learned to fish and swim. They moved to Seattle in 1941 when Dick was 12 years old where they lived on Capitol Hill. Dick attended Saint Joseph’s Catholic School and Seattle Preparatory High School where he played varsity football and varsity basketball. He went on to attend the University of Washington (UW) where he studied business, was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity, and was an Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) cadet. He met the Love of His Life, Gladyne, a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, during his Senior year (1953) at UW. Their first date was in February and he gave her his fraternity pin in March. In June 1953, he graduated from UW earning a Bachelor of Arts Degree (B.A.) in Business and was commissioned a U.S. Army Second Lieutenant. He proposed to Gladyne in October 1953.

Dick then attended basic infantry training in Fort Benning, Georgia, in preparations for wartime deployment. On leave from the Army, he married Gladyne on December 26, 1953. Shortly after, in 1954, Dick deployed for the Korean War, where he anticipated being on the front lines as an infantryman; however, his Army superiors recognized that he had a Business Degree and assigned him to manage the large Post Exchange (PX) in Seoul. He successfully completed this assignment, returned stateside, and after two years of honorable service, was discharged from the Army.

In 1959, Dick began a successful career at Boeing where he worked for 31 years in the Human Resources Department. A highlight of his time at Boeing was an assignment to Saudi Arabia from 1984-1986 where he supported all the in-country employees required to conduct maintenance, training, and operations of the fleet of  airliners bought by the national Saudia Airlines. Following his philosophy of “working to live” and not “living to work,” he retired from Boeing in 1990 to see the world with his wife.

Dick loved golf, traveling, spending the cold Seattle winters in Sun City West, AZ, watching UW Huskies football games, and cherishing time with his family and friends.  He was a dedicated husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and friend. His unquestionably positive attitude, sense of humor, jokes, and gregarious laugh will be missed by all.

His funeral will be held on December 28, at 11 am at Holy Rosary Catholic Church in West Seattle.

Arrangements Entrusted to Emmick Family Funeral Home - West Seattle

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