Barbara Beverly (Johnston) Douglas

DOUGLAS, Barbara Beverly (née Johnston) was born on June 14, 1932 in Woodstock, Ontario to Charlie and Virne Johnston, and joined her sister Marjo Knight (William) at their home on Bay Street.  She is survived by her children George and his wife Donna, daughter Beverly and her husband Bob Fleming, and her brother-in-law Morley Shaw (Anne).  Loved by her grandchildren, Briony, Townshend, Danielle, George and Kirsten.  She attended Princess Public school and went to high school at the Woodstock Collegiate Institute.  Her high school yearbooks show that she was very active in sports and other extra curricular activities and by all reports was an excellent student.  Her love of learning took her to the University of Toronto and then on to Althouse Teacher’s College.
She met the love of her life, George MacIntosh Hughes Douglas at a young age and they married in  Germany in 1959, where Captain Douglas was stationed.  They honeymooned in the Swiss Alps and the love of travel took them around the world throughout their marriage until George’s death in 1994.

They were stationed in Churchill, Manitoba where their eldest son George Charles Wallace was born in 1960 and in Petewawa, Ontario where Beverly Jane was born a year later. Barbara’s third child Cameron Darcy was born in 1964, back home in Woodstock, where the couple settled after George finished his military career.  Cameron passed in 2018, due to cancer.

In addition to being a homemaker, Barbara was a director of Springbank Consulting Engineers Limited for many years and an active participant in her husband’s political campaigns and service as a Public Utilities Commissioner for 25 years.  She was an ardent tennis player and competed with players from around southern Ontario at the old Woodstock Golf and Country Club.  She was active in her children’s school lives and sports activities.  Barbara was extensively involved with the Boy Scouts at Old St. Paul’s Anglican Church and with minor soccer for many years, beyond her children’s participation in those groups.  She was a voracious reader and volunteered for many years at Woodstock’s Public Library and Art Gallery.  Her house was filled with art, music, laughter and love.
In the late sixties Barbara and George Sr. first travelled to, and fell in love with, a small island in the British West Indies named Bequia.  They visited the island many times as a couple and with the whole family several times. Beverly and Bob were married on Bequia shortly before George passed and Barbara and Cameron returned for a visit shortly after his father’s passing.

Barbara’s house always had a dog and a few cats over the years. Her last pet, an Irish Terrier named Guinness, was a daily visitor to the Henry Street dog park since it’s inception and they were both well known and loved by many there.  She often stated, “When the dog goes, I go” and Guinness lived to the grand old age of 20, passing just a few months ago.
Dementia slowly took its toll on Barbara’s strength and mobility but she was able to stay in the home she loved until she died, ably assisted by her daughter Beverly who, with her husband Bob, moved in to care for her. The family thanks her medical team, Dr. Jeffrey Nichols, and Care Partners and the Victorian Order of Nurses for their support.  Friends and relatives are invited to join the family at the Brock and Visser Funeral Home, 845 Devonshire Avenue, Woodstock, ON. (519-539-0004) on Saturday, October 2nd, 2021 from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. for a time of visitation. Service will follow at 2:00 p.m.  (Due to Covid Restrictions, visitors are required to RSVP on the funeral home website). If desired memorial contributions to the Alzheimer Society of Oxford County would be appreciated and may be arranged through the funeral home.  Expressions of love and sympathy may be placed and viewed online at www.brockandvisser.com