Douglas Gore

Douglas John Gore, resident of Pleasant Hill, CA, passed away quietly after a brief struggle with cancer at home and in the company of loved ones, on Wednesday, September 12, 2012. Doug leaves behind his loving family: his wife Chihiro; children Leslie and Billy; brother Richard, sister-in-law Sandy and their son, Doug's namesake; and grandchildren Izaya, Kipling, and Nathaniel. Born April 22 in 1940 in Washington to William and Cecelia (nee Cunningham) Gore, Doug attended the University of Washington, where he was a brother in the Delta Chi fraternity and indulged his lifelong passion for music as a member of the university band. After graduating with a bachelor's in Marketing, Doug served 2 years in the Army before marrying Nancy Rosensteel in 1965. As an early pioneer in computers, Doug's job with Univac led him and his young family on extensive travels throughout Europe. A new position with Bechtel brought the Gore family to Northern California. In Concord, CA, Doug enjoyed a typical suburban life; commuting to San Francisco, becoming PTA president (a civic roll he would later relinquish to Nancy, in which she excelled), and tending his yard. It was during one of these backyard puttering sessions that Doug's analytical bent led him to tackle the problem of keeping the leaves out the pond. Shaping and gluing together pieces of plastic, Doug fashioned the skimmer that would lead to his next incarnation as entrepreneur and innovator. The skimmer, first of six patents Doug would be granted, was branded as skim-pak and in 1978 Doug founded Douglas Engineering to manufacture and market his invention. From the early days of constructing skimmers out of the family garage until Doug's retirement in 2007, skim-pak equipment has removed millions of gallons of oil and other pollutants out of the world's waters. Although Doug's full vision for "clean up technology" was never realized to his satisfaction, he nevertheless took comfort in knowing that his contribution to creating a cleaner world would endure for future generations. Chihiro and Doug were married in 1996, and enjoyed many pursuits together. They traveled extensively -- Europe, Asia and across the Americas -- and frequented the theatre and classical music concerts. At home, they liked to entertain and relax together with their dog, cat and Doug's African Grey parrot. Whether in his professional accomplishments, or his personal passions of travel, music, and photography, it was Doug's insatiable curiosity that left his mark on all who knew him. Doug never visited a place, or undertook an endeavor, without investigating it thoroughly and coming out having learned something new. There was never a person Doug couldn't strike up a conversation with, a topic he was not eager to discuss, a puzzle he was not compelled to solve. His accomplishment on the didgeridoo at the age of 60 gives testimony to Doug's ever-inquisitive mind. In recent years Doug's life was filled by the love of his beloved wife Chihiro, devoted children Billy and Leslie, and his adoring grandkids Izaya, Kip and Tali. He will be missed by us all. A private memorial will be held on the 29th in Pleasant Hill.