Notes:

GEORGE WAYNE DOUGLAS, PH.D., 1938-2005 From: Del Meidinger, Jim Pojar & Andy MacKinnon George W. Douglas died February 10, 2005 after a particularly severe, but mercifully brief bout of cancer. This was his sixth attack of cancer in the past 25 years - the others he was able to fight off, against the odds. George's love to nature had its roots years spent at the base of Burnaby Mountain. Born on June 22, 1938, in New Westminster, BC, he grew up on North Road in the Burquitlam neighbourhood. When He died he was living on North Road in Duncan, BC. During his teenage years, George was nuts about sports and played basketball in high school. He first went to University on a sport scholarship: track, golf and basketball! George was a well-known botanist and ecologist in northwestern North America. In his post-graduate work he studied the ecology of high elevation areas in the North Cascades of western WA and S BC (Cathedral Lakes Park). His supervising professors were Ronald J. Taylor (Western Washington University) and Lawrence Bliss (University of Alberta). While working towards his doctorate, he had a number of part-time jobs: mill worker, cannery worker, abbatoir worker, ambulance driver and taxi driver. Each one made him truly appreciate being able to work at something he loved. As a consulting ecologist in the 1970s, he conducted many of the ecological studies in the newly established Kluane National Park, Yukon Territory. This led to a series of journal publications on the vegetation and flora of southwest Yukon. Although he began his career as an ecological consultant, after his first bout with cancer, he semi-retired and dedicated his work time to botany. Late in his career he joined the British Columbia public service as chief botanist for the BC Conservation Data Centre. His passion for botany and dogged determination to see projects through to completion led to many key botanical publications. Of note are his treatments of the Asteraceae in British Columbia, his works on the rare vascular plants of both the Yukon and British Columbia, and his leadership in the _Illustrated Flora of British Columbia_. In addition to these major achievements, George published numerous individual taxonomic treatments, range extensions, and status reports. George also spearheaded or contributed to several high-quality 'glossy' books, including _Kluane, pinnacle of the Yukon_ (1980), _Plants of Northern British Columbia_ (1992), _Plants of the Southern Interior of British Columbia_ (1995), and _Mountain Plants of the Pacific Northwest_ (1995). The _Illustrated Flora of British Columbia_ would not have been possible without George's leadership and commitment. He was an excellent field botanist. Broad field experience formed his approach to herbarium taxonomy, which was marked by comprehension of the literature, curiosity, a desire for simplicity, and a healthy skepticism of nomenclatural arcana and obsessive-compulsive behaviour. A prolific author and hard-working botanist, George was able to balance this with other aspects of his life. He thoroughly enjoyed golf and gardening, good wine and food, and fancy automobiles. He was not immune to gaming and playing the stock market. He especially loved rambling and botanizing in the mountains, even latterly when he was not a healthy man. He wore a carapace of gruffness and could be curmudgeonly, but he had a fine sense of humour and of the absurd.

George + Sylvia Mayer. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

George + Olive. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]