Obituary of Douglas Charles Klippel

Our gentle and thoughtful soul, Douglas Charles, left us for heaven on April 11, 2022. He will be lovingly remembered and missed by his wife of 63 years, Lorraine; his children and granddaughters, daughter Brenda (Brent) and granddaughters Kendra (Josh) and Ashley; son Glen and granddaughters Ellie and Carlee (and their mother Michelle); and son David (Claudette). Doug and Lorraine had a large extended family and numerous friends with whom they enjoyed many special occasions and countless fun adventures. Douglas was a Transcona boy and continued to reside there with Lorraine after marriage until their move to St. Vital in retirement. He contributed to the management of their condo development by serving for 15 years as President on the Board of Directors. Doug worked for Manitoba Telephone System for 38 years, starting in the Exchange Office and finishing as an Eastern Region Network Provisioning Manager. An impressive accomplishment was his daily bicycle commute from Transcona to Polo Park! This was followed by a brief career with Siemens Ltd as a Regional Sales Manager. A highlight of Doug's career with MTS was a secondment to Aramco in Saudi Arabia with one of his best friends. Doug liked nothing more than spending time with his wife and family. Together with Lorraine, they were fortunate to travel extensively across much of Canada and the USA. Doug and Lorraine cherished special trips taken with Kendra and Ashley, and always looked forward to road trips for a visit with Ellie and Carlee. Douglas took great pleasure in entertaining relatives, friends, and neighbours; he always did the prep work and washed the dishes afterwards! Around home, Doug could often be found in his signature overalls as he was the ultimate handyman and would no doubt have been fierce competition for any home reno TV celebrity! He was an electrician by trade but was also remarkably skilled at auto mechanics, bicycle repair, gardening, construction, plumbing, painting, home decorating, and everything in between. Of note, he also wallpapered - A LOT! Our family enjoyed the many fruits of his labor including homemade travel trailers, recreational properties and a treasured snowbird home in Arizona. Doug appreciated every opportunity to share ideas, materials, and (especially!!) power tools for projects with each of Brent, Glen, and David. When it came to sports, Douglas was first and foremost a football player. He was proud of an invitation to attend the Winnipeg Blue Bombers training camp after winning the 1963 Canadian Senior Football Championship with his St. James Rams teammates (the first time a Western team ever won in the East!), as well as the team's subsequent induction into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in 2011. Throughout his life Doug golfed, hiked, cycled, skied (Lake Tahoe was a favourite destination), and took in Bomber and Jets games as often as possible. He often had lively sports discussions with Brenda and their father-daughter wagers on Grey Cup and Super Bowl games were always fun. Both Doug and Lorraine especially enjoyed spending many summer evenings and winter weekends cheering on granddaughters Kendra and Ashley in softball, rugby, ringette, and hockey. We are grateful that our husband, father, and grandfather led a life full of enthusiasm and adventure. There will be no formal service at this time; a celebration of Doug’s life will be held at a later date.