Douglas Ray King Sr. passed away peacefully on Dec 19, 2023 in Coos Bay, Oregon surrounded by his family.

The Celebration of Life will be Friday, January 12, 2024 @ 1:00 p.m. at Harmony United Methodist Church in Coos Bay, Oregon. The family is grateful to have Pastor Don Ford officiating the service. Doug would want everyone to “come as you are”. The theme is “Levi’s and No Ties”.

Doug was born in Charleston, West Virginia on May 15th, 1941 to William Orville King (AKA “KING”) and Anne Margaret (Margie) Ratliff.

Doug found Sharon, his lifelong partner in love and in business, in Drexel, Ohio, while she was playing an “unsafe” yard game, “the splits”. Years later they reconnected at a Boy Scout meeting where her father was the Scout Leader. Later, Doug served in the Army and Sharon would write letters to him. When Doug proposed marriage, they were wed with the blessings of her parents, about a month later on Aug 21, 1960. After marriage came the beginning of their greatest adventure together, life. They moved to Oregon where they successfully raised three children- Pamela King, Barbara King and Douglas King Jr (Shari).

Doug graduated from the University of Oregon in 1973 with a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology. Afterwards, he spent time serving the South Coast community as a counselor with the Juvenile Justice System of Coos County.  After this, he went on to build and run multiple private businesses, some of which still thrive in the community today. Doug was an active member of the Jaycees, and was an organizer of the early Relay for Life in Coos County. He had licenses for selling insurance and real estate, and also taught Hunters Safety courses and coached his son’s little league baseball team. Doug had many hobbies that kept him active throughout his life. He enjoyed books. Reading, Yes, Always reading, but more than that, he also loved buying, swapping, and selling books online. He could often be found at bookstores, thrift stores and libraries in search of the best value for his book purchases. Another hobby Doug loved was playing a lot of different card games. In fact, when The Mill casino opened up in 1995, Doug was hired as one of the original poker dealers in their card room.

Doug also enjoyed offering his time and serving at the local food banks. All of that, and still his best love was his love for life and his family. Doug was proud of being able to live comfortably when he and Sharon retired at 55 to enjoy their golden years together.

Doug’s legacy is long and far-reaching. In addition to his beloved wife and three children, he loved his three grandchildren- Tyler King (Christine), Tonya Witham (Eric) and Leo Giesbers in addition to a legion of bonus grandchildren. He counted himself lucky to see many great and even great-great grandchildren born. Doug is also survived by siblings; half-brother Jesse, half-sister Tina, and stepsister Anne and a multitude of nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in passing by his parents and stepparents, Mandy King and Tracy Hasty. Also, his brothers Jerrold Lee, and Fredrick Dale and half-brother, Larry and half-sister, Mary Lou.

In lieu of flowers, please serve in memory of Doug, by donating your time or resources to a food bank or soup kitchen as Doug would have done.

Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Riverview Abbey in Portland, OR. Arrangements were made by Tonya Witham, Granddaughter.

The family wishes to extend Thanks to the Bay Area Hospital staff and specifically (nurses Larissa and Luke & CNA Lance) and to Riverview Abbey, for ALL they provided to help us get through this time.

Please visit the guestbook portion of this tribute page and enter a special memory or message. Thank you.