Funeral Recording and Program

I'm sorry that it's taken me so long to get this post written.  Below is the funeral program and audio recording of the funeral for those who weren't able to make it or would just like to hear it again.  

If you have friends or family who would like to hear the funeral but don't have access to a computer I'd be happy to burn a copy of it to a CD.  Just contact me at kimi.wilson@hotmail.com and we can make arrangements to get them a CD.

Also, I was able to scan Doug's personal history.  Email me if you'd like a copy and I'll get it to you.

Funeral Program:

Funeral Service (Audio):

 

Funeral Arrangements and Obituary

This is Doug's obituary which will run tomorrow (Sunday, April 28, 2013) in the Deseret News newpaper.  His funeral will be Thursday at 11 with viewings before the service and on Wednesday evening (details are at the end of the obituary below.)

Update:  The online obituary from Deseret News can be found here.

Douglas Edward Wilson

October 4, 1952 - April 25, 2013

Douglas Edward Wilson, age 60, faithful and devoted husband and father, passed away peacefully while surrounded by his loving family on April 25, 2013 after a hard-fought battle with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7)

He was born on October 4, 1952 in American Fork, UT, the youngest of Edward Archie and Belle (Harris) Wilson. Doug felt that he had a magical childhood growing up in American Fork.  He graduated from American Fork High School in 1971. He was a proud Caveman and remained friends for life with many of his classmates.  He ran track, played football and found a love for comedy doing imitations of Bill Cosby and Mark Twain. He spent the summers before and during college working in the pineapple fields in Hawaii and after graduating from college secured a full time position recruiting for them. He moved on in his career after 6 years of working with the program, but always had a love of Hawaii and made it a priority to visit there several times during his life.

He faithfully served a two-year mission to New Zealand for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He had a great love for both the people he served and those he served with.  After his mission he attended and graduated from Brigham Young University.

Doug married Diane Denise Akers on November 16, 1979 in the Salt Lake Temple. They had a marriage that most would envy and always put each other first. They brought three wonderful children into their family and taught them to love and serve others through their example. Family was always a priority to Doug. He loved taking family vacations, going to his children’s events, or any other chance to just be together.

Doug had a varied career but most recently ran his own successful business, Silverstone Systems. He continued working until a few days before his death and was known as a man of integrity and was well loved by those with whom he associated.

Doug was a devoted member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and spent countless hours serving others. He spent 5 years serving as a bishop, he loved his ward members and they loved him. Doug had a way of making everyone around him feel important and valued. He will be missed by so many people.

Doug was preceded in death by his daughter, Shelly Marie, and his parents. He is survived by his wife Diane; his son Ryan (Kimberly) Wilson; his daughter Ashley (David) West; his brother Kay (Joyce) Wilson; and sisters Enid (Don) Bennett and Alice (Christian) Benson; his first grandchild, Reese Nicole Wilson; and many nieces, nephews, cousins and other relatives.

Special thanks to Dr. Legant and Dr. Halwani, and the nurses and staff at The Huntsman Cancer Institute for their compassion, kindness and care.

Funeral services will be held at the LDS Chapel located at 7350 S. 3200 W. in West Jordan, UT on Thurs., May 2, 2013 at 11:00am. Viewings will be held at the chapel on Wed., May 1, 2013 from 6-8pm and again Thurs. from 9:00-10:30am. Interment at the cemetery in American Fork City located at 26 W. 600 N.

 

It is with heavy heart that I write these words this evening.  Doug passed away at about 9:30pm tonight.  He was surrounded by his wife, children and their spouses, and his granddaughter.  Before he passed we enjoyed the incredible blessing of having him responsive for a time and we were able to share memories with him and read your emails and comments to him before he passed and I know that he felt of your love.  I feel so blessed to have had a few years with him and am amazed at how loved he made me feel in such a short time, and I know you all feel the same way about him.  

Diane, Ryan and Ashley are being lifted up right now thanks to all of your prayers in their behalf.  They are sad and miss him so much, but they are at peace.  We all feel so excited for him and his reunion with his daughter, his parents and other loved ones.  And most of all, we know he was a great man and has been received into the bosom of his Savior.    

As funeral arrangements are made I will post about those as well.

Good night for now, and God bless you all during this difficult time.

Kim (daughter-in-law)

Hello all,

This is Doug's daughter-in-law, Kim.  I wish I could be writing to you under better circumstances, but I hope to give you an idea of how things have gone for him since his last post.

As you know, on Monday, April 15, Doug and Diane met with his oncologist and learned that he was disqualified from participating in the clinical trial due to issues with his liver. Two days later he went in for a nerve block procedure to address the pain he's been having in his back.  The procedure was successful and he was able to get off of pain meds altogether which was a huge blessing. The procedure required that he be partially sedated and when he came home he was very exhausted.  We assumed that would wear off once the sedative wore off, but he was still worn out several days after the procedure.  We brought dinner over on Sunday (the 21st) and he was able to eat some food and visited with us for quite awhile.  We talked about memories and it was a wonderful night.  I could tell he was tired, but outside of that he seemed like himself.  

On Monday (the 22nd), his home healthcare nurse recommended a blood transfusion to replace some of the blood he lost from his labs the week before, so he spent the next day having that done.  But again, he was still very low on energy (or "amps", as Doug would say.)  Yesterday he was unable to get out of bed but was still able to communicate and his sense of humor was still well intact, even though he was kind of in and out of the conversation.  The nurse came again and after seeing him labor to breathe suggested that it was time for hospice to take over.  The hospice nurse came and Doug told her that he was ready to go.   So far today, Doug has not woken up.  He's resting peacefully and doesn't seem to be experiencing any pain, but he is not responsive.  

I know Doug has touched many, many lives and that this is hard on a lot of people, myself included.  I'm sorry that we can't call all of you personally and update you on everything.  However, I have a great desire to keep as many of you informed as possible because I know that it's easier to grieve when you understand what is going on, so I will continue to update the blog if things change.  Although Doug can't respond, if you write a comment here or send me an email (kimi.wilson@hotmail.com) we'll read your messages to him while he rests in the hopes that he can hear and feel of your love.

We want to thank all of you for your love and prayers in ours and Doug's behalf.  We have all felt buoyed up during this time.  And thank you for honoring the family's wishes for privacy.  I know how hard it is to allow them that because we all feel drawn to them.  But if you know Doug, you know how loved he is by so many people and dealing with that could be overwhelming as his family is trying to wrap their heads around what is happening.  Though he's been dealing with cancer for a long time, we've always been hopeful that he would beat it, and even when we knew that he likely wouldn't, we still wanted to believe that he had good days ahead of him where he could visit and enjoy time with friends and loved ones, so this is quite an adjustment.

Thank you again for all of your love.  It is not lost on us!

As much as I would have liked to call each of you personally to tell you this, time and my health will not allow me to do that.

On April 15th as you know I was "supposed" to start the clinical trial. Unfortunately my liver was not functioning at full capacity. This caused me to have jaundice, which disqualified me from the trial. My only option left was to do a much stronger (toxic) chemotherapy. Chemo is especially hard on the kidneys and liver (let alone what it does to the rest of the body and the mind). I chose to not go this route. Currently I am on home health care, which will eventually transition over to hospice. Due to the aggressiveness of my cancer, I'm not sure of my timeline.

As much as I would love to see so many of you, I'm really not up to visitors at this time.  I'm at peace with my decision. I'm 60 years old and I've had a great life; enriched by my association with you as my family and friends. Thank you for all of the prayers, thoughts, and kind actions you have done in my behalf. Even though it is not what we wanted to happen, we must remember who is in charge and must trust in His will.

As usual, nothing went as planned. I started having lower back pain around April 3rd. By April 5th my pain was so intense they admitted me into the Huntsman Cancer Institute once again. I was released from the hospital today April 11th. Because I was still in the hospital, the beginning of the trial has been postponed until April 15th. Hopefully I will be able to start the trial at that time.

I met with the doctor (my current oncologist) and team who are administering this clinical trial on Tuesday, April 2nd. They put me through several tests including an EKG and an ECHO. They also did a bone marrow biopsy and took several vials of blood for tests. This was all necessary to determine if I qualify to be healthy enough (except for my cancer) to participate in this program. On Monday, April 8th I will have a CT Scan, once those results are in I can begin my treatment which is planned for Thursday, April 11th. I get treatments every two weeks. The name of the drug that I will be on is called Nivo Lumab. I look forward to getting started with this new treatment plan. Thank you all for your love and support.