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Alfred John Douglass, Fairview Lake, Tafton, died Feb.1, 2025. He was the son of Robert Douglass and Irma Medera Douglass of Darby, PA. He was born the sixth of twelve children, October 3, 1925, in Philadelphia, PA.
He was associated with Camp Lenape, Fairview Lake, Tafton, for many years, having been informally adopted, as a young boy, by the camp owners, the late David and Marjory Keiser, Elkins Park, PA.
He attended Cheltenham High School, Cheltenham, PA.
He enlisted in the US Marine Corps at age 17 and served in World War II from 1943-1946. He saw action in the South Pacific and received a Purple Heart.
He was a graduate of Haskell Institute (high school), Lawrence, Kansas; Bacone College, Bacone, OK; State University of New York, Fredonia, NY; and State University of New York, New Paltz, NY.
He held the following positions: Head Children's Supervisor, New York State Department of Social Welfare, Thomas Indian School, Iroquois, NY, seven years; Elementary Teacher, New York State Department of Social Welfare, Highland Training School, Highland, NY, two years; Elementary Teacher, New Paltz, NY, ten years; Elementary Teacher, Wallenpaupack Area School District, Hawley, 25 years until his retirement in 1995 at age 70. He sold real estate in the Wallenpaupack area for several years and, being proud of his Western Band Cherokee Indian heritage, he presented many Native American cultural dance and lecture programs as "Thunder Pony," dressed in Indian clothing which he made by hand.
His membership in several educational and civic organizations includes, among others, regular Red Cross blood donations, organization of and participation in many Bike Hikes for Retarded Citizens, President of Hawley Regional Performing Arts Council, Palmyra Township Recreation Board, Board of Directors of Green Gates Cemetery Association, and membership in The Reformed Church, New Paltz, NY, and the Hawley United Methodist Church, Hawley.
He and his family lived for several years in the Freer House National Historic Site, Huguenot Street, New Paltz, NY, and he was a life member of the Huguenot Historical Society.
Al was very athletic, enjoying all kinds of physical activity, particularly tennis, skiing and bicycling. At age 65 he spent 79 days riding his bicycle alone across the US from the west coast to the east coast.
Among those grieving are one daughter: Lynda Joan Baker and son-in-law Donald W. Baker, one grandson, Wade Douglass Baker; and great granddaughter, Reese, all of East Greenwich, RI; one son: James Ross Douglass and daughter-in-law, Megan Mahoney Douglass, and one granddaughter, Linzhi Patricia Douglass, all of Basalt, CO; one brother: Dennis Douglas and his wife Pat of Budenton, FL; one sister: Margaret Staples of Mesa, AZ; several nieces and nephews; and his informally adopted brother: Melvin Keiser of Asheville, NC.
He was predeceased by his wife of 72 years, Joan Schlager Douglass, in March 2024; infant twin daughters: Elizabeth and Fanny Douglass; six sisters: Evelyn, Hazel, Doris, Grace, Ruth and an infant sister; as well as three brothers: Robert White Eagle Douglas, Albert Douglas and Arthur Douglas; and his informally adopted brother: Norman Keiser.
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