Douglas Vernon Lee passed away in Mesa, Arizona, at the age of 76. Born February 2, 1948 in Durango, Colorado to Olive Lucy Tooley and Nyal Wilden Lee.

Doug grew up in small town of Red Mesa, Colorado. His parents did not have much money; the family lived off what Nyal earned as a milk deliveryman. But in Red Mesa, Doug had cousins, aunts and uncles, friends, and lots of room to explore. For elementary school, he attended the tiny schoolhouse that was a half-mile walk from his home. For junior high and high school, he rode the bus to Durango.

Before his senior year in high school, his parents moved to Hawthorne, Nevada to find work with the military, as the Viet Nam War escalated. Doug stayed in Red Mesa to finish school and lived with his cousin Donna and her husband Sheldon. After graduating, he moved to Nevada for the summer before enlisting in the Air Force, where he served his first 18 months in the Philippines. He returned home while on break and married Mavon Harris, and they transferred to the Fairchild Airforce Base near Spokane, WA, where he finished out his service. Their first child, Dumoan, was born there. After that, they moved to Reno, Nevada, where Doug got his degree in Animal Science from the University of Nevada, completing a five-year degree in four years. Occasionally, he took two courses in the same time slot, making sure he showed up for the right class for tests. Their next two children, Kristinia and Clinton, were born there.

After graduating, Doug most wanted to work on the range as a wild horse manager, but those jobs are few and far between, and instead he ended up working a series of low-wage jobs, mostly at dairy farms. The family moved back to Red Mesa, Colorado. By this time, he had five children, and the final two were born in Colorado. He eventually got a job half an hour south in Farmington, New Mexico, working for the El Paso Natural Gas company. This was a steady job that helped the family achieve some stability. However, after working there for nearly 20 years, he was laid off as part of cost-cutting measures. He never fully seemed to recover from that layoff. Around that same time, Mavon earned her master’s degree and after Tamara, the youngest child, graduated from high school, Mavon and Doug moved frequently to various places, such as Alaska, Germany, Arizona, and Idaho, for Mavon’s work. Moving frequently wasn’t for Doug and he eventually settled in Arizona. After years of living apart, Doug and Mavon divorced on amicable terms.

Douglas enjoyed camping with his family, working with the Boy Scouts, playing volleyball (until his knees gave out) endlessly trying to improve the little park in Red Mesa, visiting with friends and family, and reading and watching Westerns. He was preceded in death by his parents, Olive and Nyal, two of his siblings, Brenda and Bruce, and his oldest son, Dumoan. He is survived by four siblings: Stuart, LaRae, Rodney, and Kara; six children: Kristinia, Clinton, Michon, Joal, Trudie, and Tamara; 27 grandchildren; and 16 great grandchildren.

Funeral Services: A memorial service will be held on Saturday, April 5th at 12:30 pm at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 6848 State Highway 140, Red Mesa, CO. 

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