Douglass Edward Myers Jr.

Douglass Edward MYERS Jr., age 77, of Orange Park, Florida passed away on Saturday, September 4, 2021 after a long illness. Douglass was born in St. Louis, Missouri on November 20,1943, to the late Douglass Edward Sr., and Mary Bell Myers. For almost all his life, Douglass lived in the Ortega neighborhood of Jacksonville until 2018 when he and his wife moved to Moosehaven in Orange Park, Florida.

Mr. Myers graduated from Robert E. Lee High School in 1961 where he was class president, active in Hi Y, played on football, track, and baseball teams. In 1965, he graduated from the University of the South Sewanee, Tennessee, with a BA in English. He was President of the Order of Gowns, member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity and other campus societies and organizations, and sang in the choir. He learned to fly as part of ROTC and joined the USAF after graduation. In the states he flew B-52s in SAC. During the Vietnam War , he was stationed in Nakhon Phanom, Thailand, where he flew 178 combat missions in an O-2 as a forward air controller. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Douglass attended the University of Florida Law School where he attained a Juris Doctor degree in 1973. He practiced law in Jacksonville for 40 years in private practice and later as a member of he Office of General Counsel staff handling Workers' Compensation cases. He was active in an ethics committee for the Jacksonville Bar Association and in 2011 was awarded the John J. Schickel Professionalism Award by the E. Robert Williams Inn of Court.

Douglass was a lifelong member of the St, Mark's Episcopal Church where he served as Jr. Warden of the vestry and sang in the choir. He chaired the Pastoral Counseling Center Board. Douglass, his father, and both of his sons earned the rank of Eagle Scout. He served as a Cub Master and as a director of the Muskogee District of Scouting.

Surviving are his wife of 51 years, Janet Michele Myers, his son, Douglass E. Myers, III, and son, Burton Terrence Myers, daughter-in-law Amanda Jimenez-Myers, brother, David Scott Myers, and grandchildren Elizabeth Maylin Myers, 11. and Luke Wyeth Myers, 8.

A memorial service will be held the first week in October, at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, 4129 Oxford Avenue, Jacksonville, FL 32210. The service will be streamed live. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the St. Mark's Episcopal Church or to fund myositis research: The Myositis Association, 6950 Columbia Gateway Drive, Suite 370, Columbia, Maryland 21046.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.hardage-giddensrivermead.com for the MYERS family.