Doug McArthur's Obituary
Doug passed away on December 6th at the age of 94. He is survived by his wife Arlene and son Sandy McArthur (SunHwa), daughter Kari Gander (Darin) and the loves of his life granddaughters Brittany Cure and Grace McArthur. Preceding him in death was son Brian McArthur, brother Ken McArthur and sister Eileen Fawcett.
His childhood was spent in the Deming area at a logging camp which he referred to as “Griggs” He attended a one room school with 36 students in 8 grades.
He was fortunate that his entire career involved sports and recreation, the two things he loved the most. His first job was as a sports announcer for KTAC. This was followed by being Supt of recreation for the Metropolitan Park District of Tacoma. After 8 years there he became Athletic director for University of Puget Sound where the basketball team of 1976 won the Division 2 National Championship. From this, he formed a company called MAC Northwest that promoted sporting events in the Tacoma area. During this time he coordinated the Tacoma Dome campaign in 1980 which was very successful.
Following the Dome campaign, he organized the LPGA SAFECO Golf Classic at Meridian Valley Golf Club in Kent, Washington. He was tournament director there for 13 years.
He was previous co-owner of Highlands Golf Course in Tacoma which he always called “a little gem”.
The last few years he served as secretary of The Tacoma Athletic Commission which is an organization that raises money for scholarships for the scholar athletes of Pierce County.
He loved every minute of his life and was so happy to always be doing something that he loved. In his own words, my life has been a “ball”!
He will be missed by everyone, especially his family.
At Doug's request there will be no service. In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be made to The Tacoma Athletic Commission, PO Box 11304 Tacoma, WA 98411
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