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Doug enjoyed a successful career in engineering and business, holding a number of U.S. patents for power tools, the first of which was earned while he was still in high school. After graduating from Purdue, Doug worked for a NASA subcontractor in St. Louis on the fuel cell and ignition systems for the Gemini 6 & 8 spacecrafts. He met Betty while there, who was finishing her nursing degree at St. Louis University. He proposed under the newly constructed St. Louis Arch. They moved to Lexington, KY where Doug worked in product design for a fluid mechanics company. At the request of his father, they returned to Hicksville so Doug could work with his father Roland at Doeden Tool Co. (DOTCO), a pneumatic power tools company Roland started in 1953 out of his garage in nearby Sherwood. Doug held a number of positions at DOTCO from 1968 to the early 80s, including Vice President and Plant Manager. Under Doug’s leadership, the company nearly tripled in size and product offerings while developing an international customer base. Prior to helping with the successful sale of DOTCO to publicly-traded Gardner-Denver, Doug had started his own power tools company DOLER with partner Jack Hostetler in Hicksville. DOLER tools focused on the aerospace industry but also had customers from the medical device industry to NASCAR. Doug always thoroughly enjoyed the annual company picnics and holiday parties that both DOTCO and DOLER hosted. Publicly-traded Cooper Industries acquired DOLER in 1992, a deal that required Doug to work for Cooper at their power tools headquarters in Lexington, South Carolina. Cooper had acquired DOTCO’s power tools business prior to that, so Doug oversaw both product lines and others as Director of Aerospace Products and Marketing in the power tools division at Cooper until he retired in 2004.
Betty retired from nursing, so they moved from Lake Murray, SC to Alpharetta, GA to be close to their youngest son Jim and his family in Atlanta. Doug and Betty moved to Washington, IL in 2015 to be close to their sons Jeff & Joe. They enjoyed going to their granddaughter Giada’s swim meets and school activities, Bradley Basketball and Peoria Chiefs games. They moved to Ft. Wayne, IN in the fall of 2023 to be close to son Joe and Doug’s two sisters Sharon Haver and Dianne Smith and their families.
Doug was a member of St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Hicksville. He also had an accomplished civic service career, including the Hicksville Rotary Club (35 years), Kiwanis Club of Peoria (6 years), vice president of the United Way of Defiance County, on the board of directors at the Hicksville Bank, board of directors of Northwest Technical Institute, and board of directors of Defiance College. Doug was a good cook, a skilled card player, and an avid gardener, which included growing roses for competitions. He also enjoyed playing the piano and following his favorite sports teams – the St. Louis Cardinals, Purdue Boilermakers, Atlanta Falcons and Bradley Basketball. Doug and Betty were proud of the participation and accomplishments of their three sons in academics, multiple sports, scouts and their careers, and were grateful to be present for so many events with their sons and their families.
The family will hold a private memorial service at Hamilton Lake this summer. Arrangements are in care of Oberlin-Turnbull Funeral Home, Hicksville, Ohio. Doug will be laid to rest in a plot next to the burial sites of their daughters in the Hicksville Cemetery.
Memorial tributes or contributions can be directed to either The Wannabes, PO Box 377, Hamilton, IN 46742, or to the Hicksville Rotary Club, PO Box 54, Hicksville, OH 43526.
Condolences may be sent to the family or memories may be shared at www.oberlinturnbull.com.