Douglas Mcleod Symons

Douglas McLeod Symons

January 15, 1930 ~ January 13, 2022 (age 91)

Douglas McLeod Symons died peacefully in his sleep on January 13, 2022, two days shy of his 92nd birthday.

We were lucky to have him for so long, given his many death-defying stunts in early life—most famously at the age of four, when his belly was run over by an ice truck after Doug was knocked over on the street. Fortune and famine saved his life: he hadn’t eaten lunch that day. If his stomach had been full it would’ve burst and we wouldn’t be writing this obituary today. But that wasn’t the end of his youthful brushes with fate. His shirt caught fire when he was 8 or 9 while playing around a pile of burning leaves. He’d been holding a string tied to a stick in the fire and was waving it around, inadvertently lighting himself aflame. He fled down the street until a kindly neighbour tackled him to the ground and rolled the flames out. The scars stayed with him his whole life; reminders to his family of how lucky we were to have him despite the precariousness of his youth.

Born in 1930 in Oxford County, Doug grew up in Woodstock playing many sports (baseball, football, basketball, rugby, hockey…) and charming everyone he met. The great joy of his life was meeting his spouse and best friend, Catherine Patricia Symons (nee Holdsworth). They married on May 15, 1954 and enjoyed 65 years of marriage. “She was by far the best thing that ever happened to me,” he wrote. “She loved me for what I was and as a result changed me into a person that even I could like… Our whole life together is a fond memory.”

Later, Doug and Cathy moved to Bramalea where they raised their children Stephen, Jeffrey, and Lisa. There, Doug leaned into a passion for acting, starring in many productions and becoming Vice President of the Bramalea Little Theatre.

He returned to Woodstock in 1983 with his bride, occupying a seven acre plot of land that was “a constant source of challenge and happiness.” Many family events revolved around this place—pit roasts, Christmas gatherings, summer picnics, Easter Egg Hunts, and the annual Symons Invitational Golf Tournament which still runs to this day, 35 years later. Doug had a knack for instilling precious traditions that were passed down to his family and maintained for generations to come.

Doug always felt drawn to local history, fondly pointing out places of significance in his community to whomever would listen. He served positions as President of the Woodstock Lions Club and Vice President of Oxford Historical Society. At age 61, he decided he’d like to become a writer, showing us all that it’s never too late for reinvention. He took a writing course at Western University and subsequently published three books on Woodstock’s history, titled Woodstock: Way Back When, The Village That Straddled a Swamp: An Informal History of Woodstock, and The Giants of Oxford. For many years, he wrote the Symons Says column in the Woodstock Daily Sentinel-Review, sharing local and family history with his readers. More privately, Doug and Cathy published a family memoir titled A Road Taken By Two: The Life Journey of Catherine Patricia Holdsworth and Douglas McLeod Symons—a memento treasured fondly by family. Doug’s rich memory served as a family archive and treasure trove of stories and memories for all of us.

Sports was a life-long passion for Doug, one he shared with his family. In a friendly family pickup softball game, he dove for the ball—breaking a rib in the process. He was nearly 80 at the time. This sidelined him for a while, but didn’t stop him from planning future family matches. Fun fact: Doug once even had the opportunity to referee a Harlem Globetrotters game.

We remember Doug as the one with the booming laugh, the one who would greet even a stranger at the door with a warm hug as though an old friend. If he went missing in a bar, you might find him at the head of a table of 20-somethings taking turns getting pictures with him. His facial expressions were legendary. He instilled a family tradition of hugging, and often, especially between men. Growing up with a father who didn’t show affection, he decided to rewrite the script for his family and teach men how to show love.

Doug was funny, witty, curious, warm—and messy. When he made his own sandwich, you’d know it by looking at the kitchen (mustard smeared on the counter; chaos galore), and by looking at him (a radius of crumbs abounding). Classic Doug Symons hair could be compared to an emu’s, sticking straight up preposterously, much to his own delight because of how often the family commented on its unruliness.

“The world would be a better place if there was more Doug Symons in it,” a friend of the family once said.

Doug will be missed by his brother Dean (Sue) and sister Cleo (Dale DeCoppel); children Stephen (Lisa), Jeff, and Lisa (Larry Riehl); grandchildren Christopher (Kathy), Shauna, Ashley (Thomas Pye), Courtney (Stephen Jardeleza), Michael, Cameron, Brianne, Jessica (Jamie Bere), and Troy; and great-grandchildren Ethan, Ayden, Nixon, Charles, and Teresa (with more on the way).

Friends and family are invited to gather for a time of visitation from 11:00am to 12:30 pm, on  Saturday January 29th 2022, with a funeral service to follow in the Brock and Visser chapel.  Burial will take place in the spring at Oxford Centre Pioneer Cemetery. RSVP is required to attend visitation and service. Please follow links below.  Attendance of immediate family and friends has been taken into consideration.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Douglas's name to the Alzheimer Society of Canada, the Woodstock Lions Club, or Theatre Woodstock would be appreciated and may be arranged through the Brock and Visser Funeral Home (519-539-0004).

There’s perhaps no better way to end this than with the words of Douglas Symons himself, written in preparation for his passing:

“All worldly accomplishments pale beside the enormous pride I took in my part of raising our loving and productive family. This is my last chance to tell you that I love you all.”