Douglas Doug G. Williams

Douglas G. Williams was born in Wheat Ridge, CO on November 5, 1938. He passed away at his home in Golden, CO January 27, 2015, at the age of 76. He is survived by wife Becky; daughter Pat; son Bill (wife Sami); son Bob (wife Sara); and son Brett (wife Robyn); grandchildren Chris, Brian, Ashley, Wyatt, Ella, Ryder, Garrett and MaKenzie. He is preceded in death by his mother Kathryn, father Leslie, grandmother Ella, grandfather William, aunt Ruth, and cousin Donald.

After high school, Doug worked as a drywall mechanic in multiple states including Colorado, Arizona, California and Nevada. Doug married Becky April 26, 1965 in Reno, Nevada. They returned to Colorado in 1967. Upon their return to Colorado, he aided in the startup of United Drywall and Painting in Denver, CO. Shortly thereafter, William was born (1969). The 'twins', Bob and Brett, were added to the family in 1977. Shortly after their birth, the family moved to their current home in Golden, CO. Doug's work ethic was impeccable as he prided himself in opening to doors every morning for his staff. After 40 years of business, he sold the business and retired.

Doug believed in an education. He promoted this for his children and his grandchildren. He ensured all of his children were able to attend college, and started financial savings for all of his grandchildren to attend college.

Doug rebuilt Farm All Cub tractors. With the 'twins' help, he rebuilt a tractor engine a couple times due to the contribution they added when they put extra bolts in the engine compartment. After his retirement from the drywall business, Doug enjoyed some 'cool' cars. He spent time rebuilding a 'Model A'. He also enjoyed a 1968 Chevy super sport and then a 1967 Shelby Cobra.

Doug truly enjoyed the outdoors, and could even be considered the ultimate outdoorsman. He spent family time snowmobiling and jeeping. He was also involved with horses for numerous years. He maintained a herd of 200 brood mares and colts for a number of years. He also owned the stud horse named Colorado Doc Bar. He was involved with showing horses in the AQHA. He took great pride in mounting his children and grandchildren with great rodeo horses. And even better ... He loved it when you won off of those horses. He attended many roping’s and rodeos, often times hauling his family there himself. He also provided his family the means to develop our skills. He would haul any of them countless miles to attend a roping, riding school, shooting events and lessons to improve their skills. At the end of the day, the entire family has many buckles, saddles and awards, because of him.

Doug was an active fisherman and hunter. He loved to fish "Soda" lake in Wyoming as soon as the spring ice came off. He made numerous hunting trips of a lifetime: Kodiak Island, Canada, Russia, Africa, to name only a few. He completed his African "Big 5" collection in 2007. He obtained the grand slam of sheep early in his life, and then later completed the grand slam of elk and bear. In 2009, he added his #60 bull elk to his collection. He has numerous other large game animals and birds. His 'toy shop' is full of the trophies he mounted from these spectacular hunts. Many of these hunts involved special trips with his friends and his sons. In addition, he regularly shot sporting clays, attended the yearly dove hunt in Lamar, CO, hunted spring turkey in Nebraska, and put in for the draw of various fall hunting tags. He was also an avid supporter of the Safari Club International, by being a lifetime member and served on the Denver Chapter Board of Directors. He was also lifetime member of the National Rifle Association and a member of the Rocky Mountain Sheep Society, as well as the Mule Deer Foundation.

The biggest joy of his life was his grandchildren. He was truly lifted up by the smiles on their faces when they hollered "hey grandpa" as they came into the living room to see him. And his grandchildren never got tired of running upstairs in grandpa's 'toy shop' to see the latest addition to his hunting trophies. We have numerous pictures of these grandchildren 'riding' the lion, hyena, buffalo, muskox, as well as rolling around on the Kodiak Brown Bear rug.

Each one of us can name at least one situation that recognizes how generous of a man Doug was. Probably most common for many, is when he insisted on paying for the meal. He did this on numerous occasions.

Doug loved having his family together, especially during the holiday season, as the holidays were important to Doug. We always had Christmas together at his house. This was tradition, along with him purchasing the honey baked ham. And this last Christmas, 2014, was no different.

All of us know, how much of a strong willed man Doug was. He fought so hard to stay with us another day. And we must remember ... that is exactly why, he was able to stay with us so long. So, while this is only a piece of what Doug was and is, through our Hope, Faith, and Love, he will remain in our hearts and memories forever.

As he said .... ...It's been a GREAT RIDE ... "!

In lieu of flowers, monetary donations can be made to the Denver Chapter of the SCI (denversci.org)