Patt Douglas

Patt Douglas (nee Holland; born in Brooklyn, NY) and Art Douglas (born in Lynn, MA) moved with their parents and siblings to Lynchburg in the mid-1950s.  Patt’s father, discharged from the Navy, opened a medical practice, and Art’s father came in the first wave of General Electric transfers to the company’s newly constructed plant off Candler’s Mountain Road.  Art and Patt attended different high schools—Art, E. C. Glass, and Patt, Holy Cross.  They met on a blind date and married in 1968.  The couple comes to Westminster Canterbury with the distinction of being second-generation residents—the parents of both lived at WC during their later years.

Art’s completion of a drafting program at Glass prepared him to become a draftsman and designer with GE.  As a young man he also served in the National Guard for six years, but saw no active duty.  Since his retirement in 1995, Art has devoted some of his time to the many things that need doing when you own a home with a good-sized yard.   He also volunteered as a tour guide at Bedford’s D-Day Memorial from 2003 to 2015 and visited Normandy for its 60th and 65th anniversaries.

During the early years of the couple’s marriage, Patt spent most of her hours on housework and raising two daughters. Courtney, along with her husband and two children, lives in Lynchburg; Ann, also married with a daughter, calls Salem, Virginia, home. When Courtney and Ann entered school, Patt took on some volunteer activities and found part-time work.  She served on the board of various organizations, usually keeping financial records while serving as treasurer; in some she also held the office of president.  The longest volunteer experience, and for Patt the most meaningful, has been her involvement, since 1970, with the Holy Cross Board for the McGurk House.

In 1992, while working in the office at James River Day School, Patt accepted the position of part-time bookkeeper at Tom Jones Boonsboro Drug Store.  Over the years, as the number of Tom Jones stores multiplied in the Lynchburg area, Patt’s responsibilities increased.  Eventually, with her daughters grown and living on their own, Patt’s part-time work evolved into a full-time position.  When Tom Jones died in 2002, Patt and two pharmacists bought the business; she served as the company’s CFO until Walgreens bought the business in 2007.

Once at WC, Art and Patt looked forward to experiencing “Life Refreshed.”  Patt plans to spend her time with bridge, oil painting, needlework, and scrapbooking.   Art has moved to memory support.