Douglas Stanley Dougan

Douglas Stanley Dougan, 96, of Homosassa, FL, passed away on Aug. 19, 2016 at his home. Born June 15, 1920 at home, 72 Barrow St., (Greenwich Village), Manhattan, New York City, NY, only child to Ruth (Cannon) Dougan and Stanley Dougan. Married Aug. 15, 1942 to Dorothy (Dolly) Duncker Dougan of Staten Island, NY. Survived by the families of Brian S. Dougan of Kenesaw, GA and Karen Doe of Brick, NJ. Served during WW II in the U.S. Army Air Corps as a decorated officer and pilot from 1940 to 1946. Credited with flying 294 missions in Africa and Asia in RAF Hawker Hurricanes, Curtiss P-40’s and Douglas C-47’s. Was on duty in 1941 at a Royal Air Force base in Africa where he learned of the attack on Pearl Harbor. His missions included a diplomatic flight to Kubyshev, Russia and cooperating with the American Volunteer Group (Flying Tigers) in China. The balance of his military career was stateside, training combat personnel in heavy bomber and troop carrier tactics. One of his stations was the airbase at Dunnellon, FL. Educated at St. Peter’s Prep, St. Peter’s College, United States Army Air Corps Pilot Training, Pratt and Whitney Engineering School, John Marshall Law School, Ocean County College, Brookdale College, PIMNY, IBM, The Marketing Institute and The Dispute Resolution Center. Studied at the Somerset Art Institute where he was trained to create palette knife work in oil. Was awarded United States patents (#3,237, 514; 3,191,489 and 2,837, 024) and British patents (#1,113,933 and 1,116,492) for information retrieval devices and anamorphic lenses. Post WW II was employed in the legal and bond department of Prudential Insurance Company. He then worked for 35 years becoming CEO and Chairman of the Board of Lithoid, Inc., a publicly held New Jersey publishing, printing, and computer data based management company, from where he retired in 1988. Until his retirement, he was a member of the Boards of Directors of Tradell Realty Investment Corp., Lyon and Lyon Publishing Co., Yellow Book Publishing Co., Compos-O-Lists Systems, Inc. and Lithoid, Inc. Named a Fellow of the American Management Association and of the American Institute of Management for his mentoring of minority owned businesses and was listed in Who’s Who in American Industry. Was a golfing member of Plainfield, Spring Lake and Seaview Country Clubs in New Jersey. Volunteered as a Senior Instructor in the Lackawanna Power Squadron; donated time at the Brick, NJ Regional Hospital. Elected President of the Seawood Harbor Property Owners Association. Acted as a guide at the Homosassa Wildlife Park. Worked as a pro bono Florida Supreme Court Certified Mediator in Citrus County Court from 1994 to the present. Designated as a Mediator Trainer by The Dispute Resolution Center. Served in the Project Seniors Versus Crime. Sat as a member of the Board of Associates of the Caruth Florida Sheriffs Youth Camp. Golfed as a member of Seven Rivers Golf Club and was a charter member of Black Diamond Golf and Country Club. Certified as a firearms instructor by the National Rifle Association and as a deep water scuba diver by PADI. Was a member of the Yankee Air Force, The Royal Air Forces Association and The Air Force Association. As a pilot, he flew bi-planes as a crop duster on cranberry bogs during summer vacations from college. Post war he maintained his status as a commercial multi-engine pilot. Moving from New Jersey in 1985, he lived in Riverhaven on the Homosassa River, in a home designed by his wife. He delighted in being an active, full living survivor of vocal chord and prostate cancer during this time. While in retirement, he and his wife of 69 years traveled extensively, visiting over 40 countries. Mr. Dougan is also survived by six grandchildren and many great grandchildren; cousin Audrey, of New York, and his dear friend and caregiver, John Evangelista of Homosassa. His beloved wife Dolly, as she was known to many, preceded him in death on Nov. 22, 2011. A celebration of Mr. Dougan’s life will take place on Fri., Aug. 26, 2016 at 12:00 noon at Wilder Funeral Home, Homosassa, with Rev. David Bradford officiating. Military honors will follow at 2:00 P.M. at Florida National Cemetery, Bushnell, FL. www.wilderfuneral.com