Douglas M. Yeager

Doug was born in Wauseon, Ohio, on November 10, 1933. He and his parents William and Maredith (Rupp) Yeager lived in Pettisville, Ohio, for a couple of years before moving to Loudonville, Ohio, where Doug grew up and graduated from Loudonville High School in 1951, valedictorian of his class.

He attended Princeton University, where he majored in Politics and graduated cum laude in 1955. Among those present at his graduation were his parents, his sister Diane M. Yeager, his soon-to-be-wife Nancy M. Mosher, and her parents Carl and Mabel (Van Horn) Mosher.

Doug was awarded a fellowship in a PhD program in Political Science at Michigan State University. He was very disappointed in that program, packed up his belongings, and moved out in the spring of 1956, knowing that he would soon be drafted into the U.S. Army.

He married Nancy, his high school sweetheart and a graduate of Muskingum College in Ohio, on June 23, 1956, and they spent most of his military tour living in Killeen, Texas, at Fort Hood, where their first child David was born in 1958. Doug completed his tour in the Signal Corps later that year and returned to Columbus, Ohio, to work for the Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Then he, Nancy, and David moved on to Dayton, Ohio, where he took a position in the nonprofit organization, Community Research. Doug and Nancy’s daughters Deborah and Linda were born in 1960 and 1962, respectively, and Doug moved on to the NCR Corporation, where he worked for 27 years, ending up as an Assistant Vice President of that worldwide corporation. During his career at NCR he attended night school, earning three graduate degrees: a Master’s in Public Administration from the University of Dayton; a Master’s in Industrial Relations from the University of Cincinnati; and an Educational Specialist Degree from the University of Dayton and Wright State University. He also completed a six-month full-time executive development program at the Harvard Business School.

After taking early retirement from NCR in 1989, he and Nancy moved to Colorado, where he became Vice President of the National Technological University in Fort Collins, a graduate engineering school delivering all of its courses from 52 universities via satellite to corporate, government, and community sites across the U.S. and internationally.

In 1991, he and Nancy built a home in Estes Park at 8,500 feet with a spectacular view of the Rockies and, more importantly, a place where they could and did enjoy many happy family get-togethers over subsequent years.

Doug took his second retirement in 2002, after having set up a family foundation following the death of his beloved wife Nancy in September of 2000. He served as President and Director of the Nancy M. and Douglas M. Yeager Family Foundation until his death. The focus of the foundation is on early childhood development and early language development. Grants and donations have been made in 18 states and the District of Columbia. Also, the family foundation has provided summer teacher residencies to more than 200 teachers. In support of the foundation’s mission, Doug authored six children’s books, donating more than 135,000 copies to families across the country.

In addition, Doug made a personal major gift to the Princeton Baby Lab at Princeton University. This unique research group studies how babies and children learn and how their experiences contribute to development.

He often expressed how very fortunate he felt to have set foot on all seven continents and, in the process, to have traveled to more than 66 countries and territories either on business or for pleasure. Among foreign countries visited, Italy was clearly his favorite. As for individual trips, he rated Antarctica #1, Africa (Kenya and Tanzania) #2, and Egypt #3. Over his lifetime, he lived in 11 states and traveled to all of the other 39.

Doug is survived by 11 of the most important people in his life: his son David S. Yeager (and Dave’s wife Michelle) in Wheaton, Illinois; his daughter Deborah L. Yeager in Kalamazoo, Michigan; his daughter Linda R. Yeager (and her husband John Florsheim) in Shorewood, Wisconsin; granddaughter Haley Yeager Florsheim in Somerville, Massachusetts; granddaughter Morgan Yeager Florsheim in Somerville, Massachusetts; grandson Lucas Yeager Florsheim in Claremont, California; sister Diane M. Yeager (and her husband Norman Philion) in Falls Church, Virginia; and Doug’s very good friend and companion Marilyn Roberts in Fort Collins, Colorado. Also, many, many cousins and a few good friends survive across the country.

A private interment service in Dayton, Ohio, will be scheduled at a future date to say a final RIP goodbye to Doug/Dad/Grandpa/Friend.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be directed to the Princeton Baby Lab at Princeton University. Go to https://makeagift.princeton.edu, and in the Special Instructions or Comments, denote “For the Princeton Baby Lab, in memory of Doug Yeager ’55.”

As an alternate, Pathways provided wonderful hospice care. Go to https://pathways-care.org/capital-campaign.