I first ran into Doug at the T&D World Expo in Baltimore a decade back. We decided to get together for drinks in a lobby bar prior to dinner. Discovering we both went to Georgia Tech, we spontaneously broke out into our alma mater's fight song:

I'm a Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech and a hell of an engineer,
A helluva, helluva, helluva, helluva, hell of an engineer,
Like all the jolly good fellows, I drink my whiskey clear…
I'm a ramblin', gamblin' hell of an engineer.

Singers we are not. Doug's compatriot John Zulaski headed for the door, embarrassed to be associated with two mostly sober characters who were acting quite inebriated.

Sometimes you meet someone and just hit it off — like you've known each other forever.

Doug, being a relationship guy, invited me to stay with him and his wife, Jody, anytime I was in the area. So the next time I was in Chicago, I stayed at their home, checking out the wall-papering project Doug had undertaken. Paste and dust and shards of wallpaper were everywhere. I was impressed that Doug felt comfortable letting me in his life and in his home regardless of the chaos of the moment.

We've made a point to keep up with each other over the years. We often find ourselves participating in the same sessions and even the same panels. We seek each other out at industry events. But I couldn't find Doug at the DistribuTech conference in Tampa earlier this year, even though he is big enough and loud enough that he is usually easy to find. One of his cohorts, Steve Strand, said the news was not good for Doug. That he was fighting brain cancer and that the doctor had given him four months to live. I was aware Doug had been fighting this evil called cancer, but now he'd taken a serious turn for the worse.

I called my buddy to check on him, and he offered to have me come stay with him again this April when the IEEE PES T&D show rolls into town. He said it would give him one more thing to live for. I'm no good at eulogies, and I'm not inclined to wait, so I'm writing this tribute today and then I'll be flying up to visit my friend.

I asked Doug to reflect back, here in the seeming twilight of his life. States Doug, “I'm amazed by how many people have called to express their love and concern. Like Jim Naylor with Arizona Public Service who, after my second brain surgery, somehow managed to break through hospital bureaucracy and get a phone call in to me in recovery. And my fraternity brother Bill Manofsky who spent two weeks here when I was near death with blood clots. I beat that, too, with the help of friends.”

IT ALL GOES BACK IN THE BOX

I'm reading a book by John Ortberg titled It All Goes Back in the Box. Ortberg uses that great board game Monopoly as a metaphor for life. No matter what possessions we stack up, how many houses we own, how many railroads we buy, in the end it all goes back in the box.

Not that Doug is willing to give up the fight and put away the box; instead, he says, “I sure hope to beat the odds the doc gave me — like I have before — through mind over matter and positive thought and prayer from others.”

So to what should we dedicate the remainder of our lives? Ortberg encourages us to treasure relationships and to stand for a cause, two traits that Doug exemplifies in spades.

Doug has never been one to sit still when there is a world to impact and technologies to advance. After one career at Public Service Electric & Gas, Doug joined S&C Electric Co., focusing his efforts in bringing intelligent switchgear to our industry. Active in so many industry committees, Doug has played a huge part in shaping what we now know as the intelligent grid. And his friends appreciate his efforts.

“Ricky Eads at Oncor is working with S&C to do something pretty cool for me — they're going to put my name on IntelliRupter Serial No. 1, the device I promised to Oncor over drinks at Bern's Steak House in Tampa several years ago. So, I suppose I'll get a little memorial on a pole somewhere in Dallas. I really, really like that,” states Doug.

So, how does one end a tribute? I'd like to offer my friend a toast by misquoting that great Georgia Tech fight song:

From all us jolly good fellows, who come from far and near,
You're a ramblin', gamblin' hell of an engineer.