Obituary of Douglas McGonigal

Douglas Wayne McGonigal
March 1, 1956 - July 27, 2024

A husband, a dad, a grandpa, a brother, an uncle, a great friend to so, so many, a kind and beautiful human, our Doug passed away in Stettler, AB at the age of 68 after a courageous battle with cancer. He put up a hell of a fight, but he just couldn’t win this one.

Doug leaves behind his lifelong friend and wife, Deb; children; (who he proudly called his greatest accomplishment) Chris (Charity) and Jaime (Clint); seven beautiful, amazing grandkids: Chase, Keegan, Ben, Chloe, Abby, Elly and Cooper; siblings: Brad, Karen (Claude) and Dean (Alejandra), sisters-in-law; Valerie (Dwayne) and Vicky (Kevin), brothers-in-law: Dennis (Jin), Rick (Cindy) and Keith (Tammy) mother-in-law Maggie; many precious nieces, nephews and friends. He thought the world of each and everyone of them.

Doug was so proud of his kids and grandkids, and loved to tell them stories. Ask any of the grandkids about Gnus, elephants, steel toed boots or John Wayne in a canoe, they can probably tell you a grandpa story. He was always disappointed when the kids, one by one, got old enough to stop believing his far fetched tales. Doug loved to laugh and he loved to make others laugh. Right to the end.

He had many close friends, some from childhood, some from his work in the oilfield, and others he befriended along the way. He was just that kind of guy. We used to tease him and say ‘Everybody Loves Doug’ and roll our eyes. But everybody did love Doug. He always had a sympathetic ear for anyone’s woes, and usually had a little ‘advice’, good or bad, to dish out. Or a joke or a funny story. He saw the good in almost everything and everyone.

We moved around a lot in our younger years, but eventually bought some land near Stettler, AB and settled there for many years. He loved to ride his horses and we made many trips to the mountains. He also loved to ride his motorcycle and we were fortunate enough to go on lots of amazing adventures together on our bikes.

A special thank you to all of our family, all of our friends for the love and support during this trying time and to the wonderful Points West staff and Stettler Hospice Society for providing us with a beautiful, safe place for Doug to spend his last days on this earth.

Our hearts are broken. You will be missed forever. There will never be another Doug. Rest easy, hon, you fought hard and you deserve peace. Till we meet again.

A Celebration of Doug's Life will be held at a later date.

If friends so desire, a donation in honour of Doug’s memory can be made to Stettler Hospice Society, Box 880, Stettler, Alberta T2E 9Z9 or stettlerhospice.org.