June 16, 1949-September 17, 2025

Harold Paul Douglas passed away peacefully on September 17, 2025, after a courageous fight against cancer. Harold was born on June 16, 1949, in Augsburg, Germany, to Ida Dötterl. We were told Harry weighed less than five pounds when he was born and his mother took him home, placed him in a dresser drawer for a bed, and nursed him to health. Germany was a country still very much in recovery and his mother married an American serviceman, Charles Douglas, and relocated to the United States. Harold and his brother stayed in Germany to be raised by their grandmother and extended family. For reasons we never fully knew, at age seven, his mom sent for him and he was plopped into the middle of the U.S. in a new home with a new family and was never allowed to speak German again. An awfully hard beginning for such a young boy.

Despite that early confusion and upheaval, Harold went on to do well in school and find his passion in the drums. He was an excellent drummer and enjoyed marching in the high school band, playing in the high school concert/pep band (but not much in the jazz band because he said that timing made him nervous), and then performing with his rock and roll bandmates in Farewell Address. By his own admission, he may have been a little too into that Rock and Roll lifestyle when he met his future wife, Debbie. He told her that she saved his life and after a very brief courtship, they were married on Debbie’s birthday, November 14, 1970. They welcomed Angie into the world the next year. And with that, Harry decided to trade in his drumsticks for family life. He picked them up again in the early 2000s, playing with the band No Pressure for a short time. Angie was finally able to see her dad fully in his element, massive drum solo and all. 

Harry and Debbie met when they both worked at Drug Package, Inc., in O’Fallon, Missouri, running and working on printing presses. Debbie was taken with his handsome looks and he won her over quickly with his humor and caring nature. She loved to watch him play the drums, and was so proud that was her guy. From his side, he loved to see her there, especially if she was in one of those mini-skirts that he loved so much. They both continued to work together for many years and then Harry and his friends branched out and started a business together. Eventually, Harry had the opportunity to purchase a sweeping business, and he and Debbie became the owners of Sweepmaster, Inc. in 1991. It was no easy task going from working in a factory to being an entrepreneur, and there were some very lean years, but they made it work and successfully ran that business until they sold it in October 2023. Their marriage was admired by many for the ease at which they were together and the way they managed to have fun doing the everyday things. They would have celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary in November. 

Harry embraced the simple things in life - he loved fishing, watching a good football game, barbecuing some pork steaks or his famous ribs, sipping on an IPA or “two fingers” of whisky, enjoying a good meal, listening to great music in person or at home, a long country drive, and just being with his family. He loved the game of shuffleboard and played many a game on his home table in Foristell. In the past couple of years, Harry and his good buddy Chris, took on the weekly Shuffleboard League at Jim’s Alley Bar. From what we hear, his ambidextrous shooting skills earned him quite a reputation down there. He had a great sense of humor and a well placed pun or a bad dad joke was never far away. He used humor to cope and that skill was passed on to the author of this obituary. He was a great friend to many, including his numerous in-laws, and nieces and nephews, who often traded in his label of “uncle” for the more accurate label of “friend” as they grew older. He was a wonderful little brother to Peter and big brother to Susan. He was blessed to become PawPaw to his grandson, Graham, almost 

eight years ago. He and Graham quickly became best buddies and PawPaw regularly used Graham as an excuse to get his favorite treat of ice cream. Every future vanilla shake will hold memories of PawPaw.

Harry is survived (and will be deeply missed) by his loving wife Debbie, daughter Angie, and grandson Graham, all of Kansas City, Missouri; his brother Peter Dötterl (Hanni), Meitingen, Germany; sister Susan Douglas, Warrenton, Missouri; several sisters and brothers-in law, and too many nieces and nephews to count. He was preceded in death by his mother, Ida Douglas; step-father, Charles Douglas; and mother and father-in-law, Stella and LeClere Nanney.  

A mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Peter’s Parish, 701 E. Meyer Blvd., in Kansas City, Missouri, on Saturday, September 27, at 10:30 AM. Visitation will follow the mass with a light luncheon in the church basement.

In addition, a Celebration of Life with beloved friends and family back east will be held on Sunday, October 12, 2025, at Moudy’s Bar and Grill, 2151 W Terra Lane, O’Fallon, Missouri, from 1:00 to 4:00 PM. Please join the family for appetizers and drinks to toast Harry. 

In lieu of flowers, the family would like to request a donation to the Caryl Francis-Niedens Memorial Fund for Neuropathic Research at KU. Caryl was a dear friend of Angie’s, who passed away last December. This research fund is designed specifically to focus on cancer-related neuropathy, which both Caryl and Harry suffered greatly with. If you choose, you may make your gift online using this link or by entering the following: kuendowment.org/give. You can also send a check payable to the KU Endowment, noting the name of the fund in the memo line or the fund number #44270 and mail to KU Endowment, 3901 Rainbow Blvd, MS 3012, Kansas City, Kansas, 66160.

Debbie and Angie have felt wrapped in love throughout these past seven months. We send our sincere thanks and gratitude to all who worked to make our load just a little bit lighter as we fought so hard to try to overcome this diagnosis. Harry gave it his very best effort but also met the end with courage and bravery, completely calm and at ease with where he was off to next.