Douglas Alan “Doug” King
It’s with great sadness that the King family shares that Douglas Alan “Doug” King, passed away on Sunday, January 9, 2022, at age 64.
Arrangements for a Celebration of Life will be held in March; details are pending at this time.
Doug was born November 23, 1957, to William Andrew King and Marilu (Schmittling) King in Andover, New Jersey while they were visiting family for Thanksgiving. He was, however, a Texan through and through. He grew up in San Antonio, where he graduated from Alamo Heights High School in 1976.
Doug had lived on his own since his father died when he was 15 years-old. As a teenager he learned carpentry skills while working in the trade. He quickly became self-employed with his own crew by the time he was 20, and moved to Dallas where he built new construction houses as a successful contractor.
Doug was united in marriage with Cheryl Annette Pitchford in 1983. They met while he was friends with her brother, and the two guys frequented Cheryl’s apartment because she owned a working Atari, which led to Doug and Cheryl falling in love.
During a period when they were parents of the first two of their children, he told Cheryl they needed to take their kids to church on Sunday as he was seeing other people in the neighborhood do, and they picked out a location. When he told the greeter (Keith Boone, who became very important in Doug’s life) he was there to drop his kids off, he was invited to participate in a group of others studying “toxic religion.” When Doug said he did not even own a Bible, Keith handed him his own personal Bible “marked” from his many hours of study at seminary.
Doug spent hours after work every day reading through the Bible, with the intent to disprove the word, but became a devout believer instead. One day in the rain with his dog Lucky, Doug had an epiphany that began the change in his life - in which he became radically saved. Doug became a totally different man than Cheryl had known. At age 32, he began practicing a different religion from his previous heathenism, as he liked to call it, where he had been angry at God and the world from the loss of his dad.
He turned his previous anger from his father’s death to anger that he had not previously been told about Jesus; and he asked others “why are you not telling everybody about Jesus.” He was led to attend SMU in Dallas and earned a master’s in theology. Doug preached for 17 years, in Methodist churches in many different towns in the North Texas conference. He preferred small rural churches. He liked to use props in demonstrating his lessons, so effectively that his adult children, among countless of his past congregations, can still remember these. He was loud with a voice that carried to the rafters; he didn’t need a microphone to preach. He would regularly get up at 3 a.m. for quiet time alone with God to read and pray and prepare his messages. His favorite place to be alone with God was in a cemetery.
Not only preaching in church services, he carried his religion to the streets, talking to people at stores, sometimes pulling up a chair outside a grocery store and asking approaching shoppers what they thought of Jesus. He visited with the homeless under the bridges and it was not uncommon for him to bring one of them to lunch with his family at a restaurant after church on Sundays. Doug spent time in Africa building communities and churches, a time in his life he always held dear to his heart. He also took a sabbatical in the middle of his ministry to lead Habitat for Humanity in Central Texas as the construction coordinator, helping to build countless homes for deserving people in the Williamson County area. One of his favorite jobs along the way was driving a limousine for a dog resort, as his love for animals was a huge part of his life.
Countless people were inspired by his sermons and have responded to the family at this time to tell them how much certain particular messages meant to them.
Doug and Cheryl moved to Groesbeck after he retired in 2017, where he enjoyed spending time with his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, as well as spending time with his dogs and hobby building. His greatest joys were the love of his life Cheryl, his children and grandchildren, his savior Jesus, and the multitude of animals that were blessed to have been loved by him.
He is survived by his loving wife Cheryl King of Groesbeck, children Michelle Rodriguez of Springfield, Kimberly Carr (Matthew) of Pensacola, William “Billy” King (Alana) of Blue Ridge, Brittany Rushton (Ethan Sr.) of Groesbeck, grandchildren Dezmond, Deshawn, Mike, Emily, Destiny, Ricky, Tiffany, Jayden, Jacob, Aurik, Ethan Jr., Harper, Amanda, Ethan, Aaden and great grandchildren Luca and Violet, his sister Robyn Leland of Dallas, sister-in-law Debbie King of Dallas, and a host of nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews.
He was preceded in death by his father William Andrew King, his mother Marilu (Schmittling) King, his uncle Lewis “Lew” King, and his brother James “Jim” Brian King.
The family has requested in lieu of flowers, to make a donation to your local animal shelter in his name.
Visit www.groesbeckfuneralhome.com to leave messages of condolence on the guestbook.