After a courageous 4 month battle with a deadly brain tumour, our hearts were broken when Doug passed away at age 70, on Tuesday August 22nd, 2023 at the Montreal Neurological Institute.

He is survived by Mona Wizenberg, his love, his wife and friend, who shared life together for 23 years, his sisters Lynda(Don) , Joy(Paul), his cherished daughter Aurora(Nicola), step-sons Rufus, Moss, Joshua(Trinh), and step-daughters Jessica(Martin), Heidi(Dan), brother-in-law Tolly(Jesse), niece Kate(Stephane), as well as step-grandchildren Shaylee, Arthur, Henry, Aria and Eddie, his step-great granddaughter Ella, and our little rescue dog Buddy, who loved cuddling up to Doug.

Born in Montreal on March 21,1953, Doug grew up in Ville St. Laurent, raised by his RCAF parents Ida and Ted. He was one of the first groups of students to attend Vanier College and went on to graduate from Concordia University in 1977, earning a degree in Fine Arts. Doug then returned to Vanier College where he worked for 38 years in both the AV department, and then as head of Information Technology, and was a familiar face to all. His young adulthood was spent living in a commune-like apartment in the Plateau neighborhood of Montreal, where he shared radical ideas with his friends and developed photographs in his own darkroom.

When he was growing up Doug spent summers with his family at their cottage on Little Lake Magog, making life-long friendships over those many years. He loved spending time on and in the lake, and was quite an accomplished swimmer and “Captain” when sailing his 16-foot Tanzer.

Doug and his first wife Sarah, raised their daughter Aurora, and his two step-sons Rufus and Moss, in a small cottage in Vaudreuil-sur-le-Lac. He spent years renovating it, and it is now home again to his beloved daughter Aurora and her husband Nicola.

In 2000, after meeting at a singing party of their mutual friend, Marilyn (who also happened to officiate their marriage, years later!) Doug and Mona went on their first date on September 20th. They watched the sun setting from the top of the hill at Centennial Park, and both realized that this was more than just a date, that they had met their partner for life. They spent the next 23 years, laughing, loving and enjoying life’s adventures together.

After Doug retired in August 2016 he enjoyed his free time pursuing many hobbies that he loved; playing guitar, reading Sci Fi and murder mysteries, drawing whimsical, personalized greeting cards for friends and family, woodworking-creating whirley birds for the garden, a cool cat tree for his daughter’s 3 cats and very cute, well-built wooden boats and toys that his grandkids loved and cherished.

One exceptional project of Doug’s was rebuilding an old 1970’s Puch moped that he rescued from the trash. After several painstaking years of working on it, he was so excited when he actually got it working again. The expression of joy and surprize on his face was priceless! He dismantled it in order to bring it out to the cottage, and all his friends applauded his maiden drive as he noisily zipped by them going back and forth down the road leaving a trail of grey smoke behind!

Mona and Doug loved spending summers at their cottage, sharing a love and passion for nature. They enjoyed hours of bird-watching, kayaking, sailing and canoeing into the sunset by Mount Orford, and gazing at the stars and planets through their telescope at night.

Doug was a kind, thoughtful and considerate hard-working man with a deep love and appreciation for animals, nature and the universe. He was a quiet, but remarkably intelligent and articulate person with a fantastic sense of humour and an amazing knack for understanding how stuff worked, and was able to fix anything instead of throwing it out. He also had an enduring curiosity about the natural environment.  

Doug’s memory will continue to live on forever in our hearts and he will be sadly missed by all who had the pleasure and honour of knowing and loving him.

A celebration of Doug’s life will take place on Thursday August 31, 2023 from 10-12 pm at the Mount Royal Funeral Complex, followed by the burial at this location’s cemetery.In lieu of flowers, donations would be appreciated towards research at the Montreal Neurological Institute on Glioblastoma Brain Tumors. www.mcgill.ca/neuro/donate  and select  “Neuro brain tumor research general”

                           “To live in the hearts we leave behind, is not to die.” Thomas Campbell (A Scottish poet)