Douglas E. Huber, age 82, finished running his race and was welcomed into the arms of the Lord on January 26, 2025. He battled Parkinson’s Disease for nine years and Lewy Body Dementia for five years and his strength and determination carried him through until he determined when he had had ENOUGH.
Doug was born April 30, 1942, in Sioux City, IA, to Jack and Mildred Huber. At a very young age the family, which included Doug’s older brother Bob, moved to Omaha, Nebraska where they settled into the Benson neighborhood. Doug enjoyed all the benefits of a young boy in the 40’s and 50’s including boy scouts, school sports, and the antics of his beloved dog “Chipper”. Chipper’s reputation, which was legendary, included running onto the gym floor in the middle of one of Bob’s basketball games, and snatching and bringing home many kids’ hats and mittens to the family front porch. When Doug’s neighborhood friends came over to retrieve their belongings, they were invited in to watch the first color TV in the neighborhood.
Doug explored a number of avenues in education and employment and eventually settled into the electrical contracting field, first as an estimator, and later as a branch manager.
Doug was a man of honesty and integrity. He also had a special sense of humor. Always quick with a quip, he had many in his circle of customers, family and friends chuckling in appreciation. In fact, his future wife was heard to remark that she married him because he made her laugh.
On June 3, 1978, he married Denise (Reuter) Huber, in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. The “cathedral” of rolling hills, tall pines and a beautiful lake was such a memorable setting that the couple returned every five years to celebrate their anniversaries, up to and including their twenty-fifth.
The couple bought a home in the Rockbrook neighborhood in Omaha, where their daughter, Annette Lee, was born in 1980. Doug absolutely loved being a dad, managing the Omaha office of Commonwealth Electric, Cornhusker Football, playing in tennis and golf leagues, and all the duties included in being a homeowner, including playing golf with Denise as she was determined to learn the sport.
In 1985 the family of three moved to Phoenix, Arizona to be closer to Doug’s family, who had all migrated there for the warm winters. He quickly found a job in electrical sales, Annette started kindergarten, and Denise got involved in neighborhood activities. After four years of delightful winters and record high heat summers, the Midwest's four seasons was beckoning them “home”.
The family moved to Kansas in 1990, eventually settling in Whispering Hills, Lenexa, where they established a network of life-long friends, deep roots, and memories to last a lifetime. Doug was highly successful working again in sales, serving the best electrical contractors in Kansas City until he retired in 2016. It was there that we adopted “Buddy”, a beagleschnauzer mix, who quickly became “Doug’s dog” and brought him countless hours of enjoyment. He remained active in tennis and golf, and a new activity called “Rock Steady Boxing” to counter-act the effects of Parkinson’s Disease.
Doug’s surviving family includes his wife, Denise, and his daughter, Annette, his cherished grandsons, Andrew Talley and Samuel Farr, and sisters in law Nancy Huber and Diane (Bill) Bayless, brothers in law David (Kathy) Reuter and Dan Reuter. Many dear cousins, nieces and nephews will miss him as well.
A celebration of Doug’s life will be held on Thursday, April 24, 2025 at Westside Family Church, 8500 Woodsonia Drive, Lenexa, KS 66227. Visitation will be at 2:00 p.m. with the Celebration of Life service at 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Doug's favorite dinner (Mexican food) will follow the service at the church.
In lieu of flowers, these two organizations provided tremendous help in navigating his diseases:
1) https://www.lbda.org/Click on Donate and follow the prompts.
2) https://kuendowment.org/Click on Ways to Give/Areas of Support/Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center
The shelter where we adopted his beloved “Buddy” is Prairie Paws Animal Shelter in Ottawa, KS: https://www.prairiepaws.org /Click on Make a Donation and follow the prompts.