Douglas Fred Demaree, the beautiful boy of Gary F. and Amelia A. \u201cToots\u201d Demaree was born in Billings, MT on July 17, 1960 and passed away on March 22, 2011. <\/p>\n
Doug was a loving happy baby who grew into a playful young man with a great sense of humor. He loved laughing and joking with his friends and his cousins. One of Doug’s trademark pranks was to rubber band the sprayer on the kitchen sink and talk you into a glass of water, with obvious results. He enjoyed building model rockets and cars, doing Cub Scout projects, and later extravagant Vigilante Parade Floats with his friends. <\/p>\n
Doug was educated in Helena, attending Bryant and Jefferson Schools. He lettered in track at Helena Junior High and Graduated from Helena High in 1978. In 1980, Doug enter the Coast Guard with his best friend Tim Larsen, where he served proudly for 4 years until he was injured. He was honorably discharged with full medical disability for his service. Doug spent many of his years exploring the
mountains around Helena. If you needed to know a back road or a short cut, he was your guy. He enjoyed fishing and hunting with his friends, family, grandparents and cousins. Doug also made use of his beautiful surroundings as a skier in the winter, a frequent visitor to Big Sky, Bridger and Big Mountain. <\/p>\n
Doug was an accomplished artist, usually preferring pencil although occasionally painting. He had several \u201cBest in Show\u201d ribbons from the fair to his credit. He was a music aficionado with eclectic tastes: rock to country, Doobie Brothers to Leanne Rhimes, he liked it all. He spent lots of time building his collection of CD albums and singles, listening to music for many hours. <\/p>\n
Doug also was a great assistant to his parents in the landscaping around their house and the beautiful Christmas displays they built together in the winter. He loved his weekends in the spaces they created together, enjoying his fountain drink and a cigarette. <\/p>\n
Doug was a proud and supportive member of Plymouth Congregational Church. He loved the congregation and chatting with friends after service over a cup of Russian Tea. <\/p>\n
Doug passed suddenly but peacefully from heart failure in his room at Elkhorn Rehabilitation facility on March 22, 2011 where he had lived for the past 5 years. Doug was a staff favorite. He loved and appreciated the excellent care they gave to him and many of his resident friends. After many years of
fighting his schizophrenia, the voices are finally silent. Doug’s charm and warmth will be missed. <\/p>\n
Doug was preceded in death by his dad, Gary, grandparents, and numerous relatives. He is survived by his momma, Amy \u201cToots\u201d Demaree of Helena; his sister, Julia Demaree and her wife Anna Marie also of Helena; and many loving aunts, uncles and cousins. <\/p>\n
A funeral service is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. Monday, March 28, 2011 at Plymouth Congregational Church in Helena. A graveside service will be 1:00 p.m. Tuesday, March 29, 2011 at Mountain View Cemetery in Billings. Please join the family for a reception at the Billings Masonic Center, 1101 Broadwater in Billings immediately following the graveside service. Memorials in Doug\u2019s name may be sent to the Plymouth Congregational Endowment Fund, 400 S. Oakes, Helena, MT 59601. Condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.aswfuneralhome.com.<\/p>\n","photo":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/339371_profile_pic.jpg","youtube_video_url":"","family_email":"","family_first_name":"","family_last_name":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case\/791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/case"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}