Donald Perry Douglass, M.D.

Donald Perry Douglass, M.D., died peacefully at home surrounded by his family, on Sunday, October 16, 2022.   Don (or Doug) as mom called him, was born on May 25, 1930 in Chesterfield, South Carolina.  He was delivered at his home by his uncle, the town doctor, on his grandfather’s birthday.  The second son of Mattie Gaddy and Walter James Douglass, he grew up running happily through the fields and around the town, knowing everyone he met.  He helped his mother, a piano teacher, to churn the milk to butter to sell, took care of the family chickens, and collected up to a hundred box turtles as pets.  His children still move every box turtle they see out of the road to safety.  He attended the local schools in Chesterfield but transferred to Wingate College Prep and High School for his senior year as most of his extended family lived in Wingate.  His grandfather who owned a sawmill and had five daughters thought education was so important that he started Wingate College, hiring young professors from Wake Forest College and letting students stay in his house.  Every summer of dad’s high school career, he attended Wingate College taking college classes and excelling in them.  He attended Oak Ridge Military Academy for his freshman year of college.  After being bullied by the dorm captain, he and a friend nailed his window shut, nailed his shoes to the floor and short sheeted his bed.  The bullying stopped.

A summer was spent measuring tobacco fields for the state and in August, Dad packed a small suitcase, took $2.00 from his mother, and hitchhiked to old Wake Forest College for his second year of college.  With nowhere to stay upon arrival, he found a bed in a boarding house the first year and his junior year he worked as an orderly in the student health center, where he was offered a bed to sleep in.  After his two years at Wake Forest, he was admitted to Bowman Gray School of Medicine, the youngest student in his class.  He was also probably the tallest, skinniest member at six foot six inches tall and 150 pounds!  It was at the medical school cafeteria that he was seen by my mom, a nurse, who told her friends that she was going to marry that boy.  Dad asked her to a dance that very day and they were married on October 10, 1953 in Wagram, North Carolina, our mother’s hometown.  Dad graduated with a degree from both Wake Forest College and Bowman Gray School of Medicine in 1953 and proceeded with mom to Georgetown University for a year of internship.  Unable to rent an apartment until mom got a job, Dad was making $50 a month.  Dad and mom returned to Winston-Salem, NC in 1954 where he trained in General and Thoracic Surgery.  Upon finishing his residency, he was drafted into the Air Force so they moved to Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama in 1957 where dad served as Chief of General Surgery for two years.  He and mom narrowly missed being transferred to Alaska due to the imminent birth of their second daughter, Carol.

Our parents moved to High Point, North Carolina where dad established his own private surgical practice.  They eventually settled into a home at 809 East Farriss Avenue.  The stars aligned when we were gifted two wonderful families as neighbors, the Bert Rau Family and the Wiley Clary Family.  It was a wonderful life!

Dad loved being a doctor, building his practice and an office to put it in, and meeting all of the influential businessmen in the town.  Known for his kindness, good advice, and his numerous jokes and tricks, he was much loved by his patients and his community.  Dad became interested in buying land, and eventually bought a large, tobacco farm for our mother so that she could have the house of her dreams and the horses that she had grown up riding.  Dad instilled the practice of hard work, buying each of us a tractor and giving us jobs to do each Saturday on the property, in addition to taking care of his rental property.

Our family were proud members of First Presbyterian Church where Dad served on many committees, and was a member of the Deacons and the Elders.  Mom and Dad were equally committed to Wake Forest University, where they attended over forty years of football and basketball games.  Their wardrobes attested to their WFU support!  They loved to attend antique auctions where Dad would buy clocks, glassware and pewter and mom would buy jewelry and old dolls.  They enjoyed their Medical Supper Club and Dad loved serving on the board of the local bank.  Dad’s favorite activity by far was being a proud member of the High Point Gin Club.  Whether he won six cents or lost twelve, Dad lived for those Thursday nights with his best buddies.  Dad supported Wake Forest University, Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Wingate University, The Salvation Army of High Point, First Presbyterian Church, The Chesterfield Cemetery Fund, the Springhill Cemetery Fun, and numerous other organizations.  He was proud to be a long- time member of the American Medical Association and a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and a board member of the Presbyterian Home Foundation, Inc. He also served as Chief of Staff at High Point Regional Hospital.

Dad retired in 2002 just as mom was beginning to have some health problems.  He spent the rest of mom’s life taking care of her, giving up his dream of travelling.  Their 69th anniversary was the week before dad died.  What an example they showed us about commitment and love.

Dad was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Annie Wooley Baxley Douglass, and his brother, Walter James Douglass, Jr.  He is survived by his three children, Elizabeth Douglass Walsh (Tom), Carol Douglass Lowe (Ed Henriques), and Donald Perry Douglass, Jr. (Angie).  He had eight grandchildren, Casey Lowe Pearce, Molly Walsh Shelton, DVM (Troy), Mallory Walsh Barrett (Tommie), Thomas Walsh (Holly Puckett), Caroline Henriques, Katherine Henriques, Megan Douglass and Donald Douglass III.  He had four great grandchildren,  Edison Pearce, Owen Shelton, Alex Shelton and Sophie Shelton.  He has also left behind his two cats, Gracie and Simba and his dog, Buttons.

Dad will be buried in a private funeral at Springhill Cemetery in Wagram. NC.  A memorial service will be held on Sunday, October 30 at 3:00 pm at First Presbyterian Church, 918 North Main Street, High Point, NC.  Members of the High Point Gin Club are asked to sit together.   The family will meet friends in the Family Life Center following the service.  In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to First Presbyterian Church, designated for the music program, or the Salvation Army of High Point, 301 West Green Drive, P. O. Box 300, High Point, North Carolina 27260.

The family would like to thank Trellis of Winston-Salem for their continuous, compassionate care and support of Dad and us; Home Helpers, especially Brittany Brown, Kiara Dow, Deasia Williams, Tiana Trotman, and Carlee Ballard for loving Dad as much as we did; and Dr. Steve Ruehle, Cathy and Kim for the years of wonderful care they provided both our parents.  We would like to thank Alan Scheppmann of Carr, Riggs, and Ingram, CPAs for the years of assistance and advice he has given to Dad and to us most recently.  Our Dad always thought Alan was the final say in so many financial affairs and respected him very much.  We also appreciate everything our friends have done to assist us in this long journey with both our parents.

Bumgarner Family Funeral Service and Crematorium is assisting the Douglass family.

Online condolences can be made at www.bumgarnerfunerals.com.

Salvation Army of High Point
301 W. Green Drive, PO Box 300, High Point NC 27260

First Presbyterian Church
918 N. Main Street, High Point NC 2262