Douglas Bruce McInnes
June 18, 1929 – June 21, 2016
Doug passed away peacefully on June 21, 2016, at his home on Jamestown Beach, with his family at his side. He was 87, and died of age-related causes.
Doug was a member of the McInnes pioneer family that came to Sequim in 1860. He was born in Sequim on June 18, 1929, and was raised at Jamestown
Beach prior to moving to Gardiner in 1943.
He graduated from Sequim High School in 1948, and
then from the University of Washington.
He was the youngest child of Rex E. McInnes and
Elizabeth “Betty” Atwood of Seattle. His siblings were Patricia, Rex Jr. “Bud,” and Margaret. Patricia was Doug’s fifth-grade teacher in the old “big box” school.
Doug was the grandson of Donald McInnes, who came to Sequim in 1874, and the great-grandson of Rev. Albert A. Atwood, a very early Methodist-Episcopal minister in Seattle whose circuit-riding territory in the late 1800’s included Sequim and Dungeness.
In 1952 Doug married Bonnie Robb, daughter of another Sequim pioneer family. They had three children: Steven (Valerie), Barbara (Jan) and David.
Doug was in the U.S. Army from 1953 to 1954. He and Bonnie lived and worked in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1955; they considered that a long vacation, back when Waikiki had only a few major hotels.
He worked in personnel management for Boeing in Seattle from 1957 to 1971 during the B-52 Bomber, Bomarc missile and the early commercial-jet era.
The family moved to Sequim in 1971 and Doug worked for ITT Rayonier’s Peninsula Plywood division as personnel manager, until the sale of the mill to K-Ply in 1989.
His major hobbies were golf, crabbing, history, humor — and especially writing. He wrote a local history column for the Sequim Gazette from 2000 to 2004, which mainly described Sequim in the 1930 to 1950 period. These columns were included in his 2005 book, “Sequim Yesterday.” Author Daniel James Brown used that book as a source when researching “The Boys in the Boat.” Doug also wrote “My Uncles and Other Related Tall Tales,” a variety of short, humorous stories.
Doug was a founding member of Olympic Theatre Arts, which began as the Howard Wood Memorial Theatre. (Howard was Doug’s stepbrother.) He was a founding member of the Sequim Alumni Association, and was a driving force behind the All-Class reunions held in 2008, 2011 and 2015.
During these reunions, Doug’s “Walk through Sequim” was a crowd favorite. In 1998, he created and edited The Ditchwalker, a quarterly newsletter for Sequim old-timers and alumni featuring history, stories and letters from locals, plus his own humor. The Ditchwalker was a collaboration with daughter Barbara, who designed it. Doug retired as its editor last year.
He also was one of the “Over-the-Hill Gang,” Sequim old-timers who meet regularly to reminisce.
In recent years he spoke about local history for many local organizations including Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, Sequim Museum and Arts Center, and Clallam County Historical Society.
Doug was honored as an Irrigation Festival Grand Pioneer in 2007, and was known for his hilarious “roasts” of the pioneers at every Pioneer Dinner. Each year, he delivered scandalous and shocking misinformation about each of them: no pioneer’s reputation was left unscathed!
Doug was a farm boy who loved being outdoors. One of his favorite sounds was the musical “ping!” created when splitting cedar shakes. He loved the sight of hay in the fields, and of a jam-packed crab trap being pulled up to the water’s surface. His favorite taste was just-caught Dungeness crab, cooked and eaten on the beach.
He enjoyed practical physics and the mathematics of probability. He challenged others to solve the “Monty Hall 3 Doors Problem,” and really enjoyed helping them understand the correct answer.
In addition to Bonnie and their children, Doug is survived by grandsons Nick and Tom Edmondson, plus scores of nieces, nephews and cousins. He is also survived by many people who, though not related by blood, called him “Uncle Doug.”
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Olympic Theatre Arts, 414 N Sequim Ave, Sequim, WA 98382, Volunteer Hospice of Clallam County, 540 E 8th St, Port Angeles, WA 98362 or your favorite charity.
At Doug’s request, there will be no service. He would want you to honor him by doing something really fun with people you love.
