July 16, 1952 - December 14, 2019
It is with the heaviest of hearts we must share the news of the passing of our beloved Douglas James Fooks. On Saturday, December 14, 2019 after a courageous battle with Pancreatic Cancer that lasted approximately 15 months from diagnosis, Doug passed surrounded by his loving family. Doug was 67 years young. He was an amazing man, an incredible loving husband, very proud father and grandfather, terrific brother and uncle, and an incredible friend to so very many.
Doug was born July 16, 1952 in Vegreville, Alberta. He is survived by his loving wife Donna, and five beautiful children and four grandchildren. Audra (Jeff) and grandchildren Jackson, Brady and Ryann; Erin (Curt) and grandson Parker; Alexis (Kyle), which are his daughters with his first wife Terry; Amanda and Alex (Jaydee) with his current wife Donna. Doug is also
survived by his brothers, Don (Jan); Gord (Elaine) and Rob (Sylvia), and nephews, Ben, Peter, Jordan, Brian, Alan, Steven and his niece Lynn and each of their families. Doug is predeceased by his father Jim, his mother Grace, brother Jimmy and his nephew Jonathan.
Doug loved spending time with his family and friends, telling stories while sharing a fine bottle of wine and steak dinner or just a cold beer in the pool or hot tub. He was a very social gentleman and loved by so many. He would light up a room simply by walking in and would make any person feel welcome with his charming smile and charismatic demeanor. Doug
was also a great athlete with a competitive nature. He loved sports, both playing as well as coaching. Following his greatest love of his family, his next two great loves were skiing on Big White and boating on Okanagan Lake. And of course, no one will forget that all these activities also included one other great love of his, and that was his love of sunglasses.
Last, but certainly not least, like his father before him, Doug became a Powerline Technician/Lineman at a young age following University. He loved teaching and sharing his experiences with fellow linemen and apprentices so much so that he worked in that field in one way or another until his final days.
We his family would like to thank Doug's wonderful doctors, particularly Dr. McCloskey and Dr. Clarke as well as his teams of nurses at BCCA and Hospice Palliative Care who made this journey more bearable; along with all of our incredible friends and family members that went above and beyond to make sure we were taken care of all along the way.
A funeral service will be held at Springfield Funeral Home, 2020 Springfield Road in Kelowna, BC on Saturday, December 21, 2019 at 4 pm. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Doug's name to Operation Smile Canada https://operationsmile.ca and/or Pancreatic Cancer Canada: http://donate.pancreaticcancercanada.ca/goto/Dougfooks