Old Photo #38 – Doug Kuhl 3

What to say about a dear friend who died at the age of 47? John Douglas Kuhl passed away in his sleep on November 25, 1999. He would have been 60 years old this past January 29th. He had slipped this mortal coil some 16 hours prior to our finding him. The autopsy revealed a 90% blockage of his anterior descending artery and over 50% blockage of the others. In addition, there was scarring from a previous MI.

Doug would have loved the irony of circumstances around his passage. A soft light was glowing on the bedside table. He looked peaceful, with one of his arms draped over and around his head, and the other on his torso. The end was so benign that the book he had been reading prior to falling asleep was still tented on his chest. The book? "The Narrowing Stream," by John Mortimer. I was given that book.

Doug was a wonder in so many ways: a curious, sometimes contradictory, admixture of interests and passions. Cigarettes, fine alcohol and rich foods were among his pleasures. Exercise was anathema.

Doug was a classical music lover from a very early age. He studied violin under Emmanuel Horch and Madame Eckhardt-Grammatte, and was a member of the Manitoba and Canada Youth Orchestras. He decided, in his late teens, that he did not have the potential to be a soloist and, so, he packed it in.

After a post high-school sabbatical in Europe (learning to play the recorder, read & speak French & Swiss) he returned to Winnipeg, enrolled at the U. of M. and, within three years, had accumulated a Double Honours B.A. in English and German Literature, and had completed all course work toward his M.A. and teaching certificate.

Hard upon graduation, his parents decided to do a 90% leveraged buy-out of their farming partners. Doug was asked to take on the financial and marketing responsibilities. These were undertaken with the same zeal & expedition as his university career.

In the mid 1980s, Doug was persuaded to enter politics. Within a year or two, he was president of the Liberal Party of Manitoba. In 1986, he had helped to find candidates for every riding, and the Liberals went from no seats to 17.

Then, in the mid 1990s, at the urging of his two best friends, Don Wiebe and myself, he once again decided to take up his passion for the violin. After a workshop in Helena, MT, he partially retired from the family business and threw himself into music for the joy of it. He was even invited to participate in a Tafelmusik workshop in Halifax.

Doug had the ability to exercise singular focus. When with a friend, there were no interruptions (phone) or distractions (music on the stereo): the exchange of ideas, information and feelings were all that mattered. His ability to "read" financial statements was lionized by Bill Watchorn, who commented to me that he had never seen anyone else who, so immediately, understood what the statements were trying to hide or promote.

Much more to reprise about Doug, but that is the stuff of conversation.

This photo of Doug was taken in Spruce Woods Provincial Park circa 1976, when a huge group of friends converged there for a weekend.

Much missed.