Douglas Clark McPherson

Douglas Clark McPherson passed on from this life on Sunday, May 14 at the age of 83. He was an exceptionally honorable man, logical, witty, and smart-as-a-tack. Many considered him their great friend and confidante. Doug grew up in Topeka, Kansas with his parents, Janice and Clark, and his grandparents, Charlotte and Peter (Peter set the seeds for his lifelong love of calculated card playing). He migrated to Manitou Springs, Colorado. He was a pull-up-your-bootstraps boy that bagged groceries and played baseball. He made his way to the University of Colorado-Boulder, worked for the IRS, then put himself through night school at Georgetown Law. He was a tax lawyer working in the aerospace industry during the Cold War and Reagan era. Doug was as skilled at charming people as he was at balancing books. He loved his work; it was his area of genius.

Doug is survived by the love of his life and wife of 53 years, Jananne (Jaye) Sweet McPherson. They were introduced by Doug’s boyhood friends from Topeka, Tom and Nancy, who proposed, “We think you’ll like her, but we’re not sure you can afford her.” Jaye’s dowry included 50 immediate relatives, most of whom were strong-willed women, and a family with deep roots in early Estes Park. He had been living, vacationing, and hosting family gatherings on the hill for the last 60 years. His sanity and social life included his poker group, bridge club, golf buddies, tax-prep friends, and the nonprofit boards that gleefully entrapped him into service. He leaves a legacy of philanthropic service and giving, a strong value for education, and an appreciation for Glennfidich.

As a father, he would enthusiastically take his kids to Busch stadium in St. Louis for a game, especially when the Dodgers were in town, “Grab your glove; we gotta go!” He bought peanuts outside the stadium because, for the record, “he was not cheap or frugal, but careful.”

Doug was known as Tata, Papa Doug, Pops, Dad, friend, confidante, and—lovingly, by Jaye—as Dougie. He is survived by his four kids, Michael, Julie, Karen, and Jeff. By extension, their spouses and five children.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.allnuttestespark.com for the McPherson family.