Friday, April 18, 2025
Doug passed in Everett, Washington, following a short, valiant battle with metastasized lung cancer.
Doug was born and raised in Kirkland. He attended Lake Washington High School. He loved being outdoors and spent many memorable summers enjoying friends at the local beaches.
Doug faithfully served his country for twenty-two years in many parts of the globe, including Beale AFB in California, where he worked on the SR-71 Blackbird nicknamed “Habu”; and 10 years in Germany, where he was a crew chief and mechanic on many aircraft. Doug loved Germany and its people. While stationed at Ramstein AFB and living in Olsbrucken, he was active in the local volunteer fire department and band, where he made many lasting friendships.
Following retirement from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Doug worked for Boeing. He also became a long-haul and local truck driver, being a member of the Teamsters Union local #38.
One of Doug’s favorite activities was to volunteer as a bus driver for the Edmonds Senior Center. He would take seniors on various sightseeing trips around Western Washington. Doug always had a joke and a smile.
Doug was an avid camper – his happy place was sitting beside a river, early in the morning with a pot of coffee perkin’ on the campfire. If you were fortunate enough to know Doug, you loved him.
Doug is survived by daughters, Cindi Rhonemus, Cocoa, Florida, and Stephanie Stolz, Frankelbach, Germany; four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren; brother Robert Rhonemus (Phyllis), sister Sandi Hadfield (Mark); and many nieces and nephews and their families.
Interment at Kirkland Cemetery.
The family wishes to thank Continuum Hospice for providing such comfort, and also our profound thanks to the kind and loving staff and residents of South Pointe Assisted Living, where Doug called home for the last three years.
AIM HIGH-FLY-FIGHT-WIN
