“Gerry”, as he was called, was born in Chicago, Ill., on July 4, 1925, son of Edwin and Elsa (Dybeck) Douglass. In his youth, summers spent at a cottage in Michigan developed his love of the out-of-doors. After graduation from High school in 1941, he joined the Navy and was trained to become a Navy pilot. At the end of the war, he resumed his education and graduated from the University of Miami (FL) in 1952, with a degree in food technology. He married Barbara Scott. He spent many years in the food manufacturing industry and retired as vice president of Milk Proteins Inc. In retirement he and Barbara lived in Falmouth, MA for 22 years. His hobbies included woodworking, model ship building, sailing, golf, and working on his beloved Model A roadster. A few years before he died, he and Barbara visited Tara, Ontario, Canada and found the original ovens that his grandfather, Alexander Frederick Douglass, had used for his bakery in 1891. This was an important discovery to Gerry because his grandfather Douglass had died 25 years before he was born.
Gerry and Barbara had four children: Scott, Robert, John and Susan.