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Doug Tomazin has passed away. His memorial is Saturday May 10, 2008 at the Calvary Chapel (the packing house) in Redlands at 11:00 AM The Packinghouse (Calvary Chapel Redlands) 10 Fwy to Redlands; Exit Alabama St.; north on Alabama to San Bernardino Ave. We're on the corner of Alabama St. and San Bernardino Ave. after the service there will be some thing at Set Free at 1:00 PM.
Hi all,
I just wanted to take
a moment to let you know about Doug's service. I battled with the decision
to go, but in the end I am very glad that I did. Eric Kimball, Mike Hauso,
Kristi Lewis Rosales, and Ian MacGregor were some of the classmates I saw.
The service was very nice; his family did a wonderful job. All of his
siblings gave an eulogy and mentioned good friends from high school like
Eric, Mike Dunlap and Jason Cota. There were some laughs and some tears but
all in all it was a good afternoon. The family was very open as to how and
why Doug left us so early in life and basically it was due to his Type-I
diabetes. He was diagnosed after high school and since has had 2 kidney
transplants and one pancreas transplant. He was actually on the transplant
list again for another pancreas, for the last two years I believe, but his
body did not hold out for the possibility of that one. Where Doug was a very
proud and stubborn guy, he also was just as stubborn to not admit that he
had a disease (this came from his family). So, he really didn't treat his
body right with respect to living with Type-I diabetes. He would manipulate
his insulin to fit his lifestyle. There was also open discussion from the
family about Doug's fall into drugs. It almost consumed him and thankfully
due to his strong family, they helped to pull him out of it and he began
attending Set Free Ministries in Cabazon. It is a ministry centered around
helping recovering drug addicts and Doug ministered for them until his
death. He was clean for at least 10 years before he died and loved nothing
more than trying to help others find strength through God and worship to
overcome drugs and addiction. He would often help those who most people
would rather forget and it was apparent that he was dearly loved by many.
Even when he was very ill, he still would minister to those via phone or
when he could find a ride to the center as he was too ill to drive himself.
It was fun to hear
about Doug's antics when he was younger. Eric, Mike and I shared a few and
his family had even more. His older brother Tom told a story of how much
Doug loved food, as many of you probably know, and he particularly loved
McDonalds. Well when he would go to McDonalds with other people (who didn't
know him well) he would order 2 Big Macs, fries and a drink, finish that and
then bet someone that he could eat 5 more Big Macs. The deal was that if he
ate them all he didn't have to pay and if he didn't eat them all, then the
person betting him had to pay. Well, Doug NEVER paid for any of those Big
Macs. Good stuff! Eric and I were recalling a day in kindergarten in Mrs.
Atkin's class when Jim French was throwing tonka trucks at the rest of the
class. So to protect the other kids, Doug picked up a teeter totter and used
it to block the flying trucks. There were many other stories from the day,
but if I recalled them all, you would be late to work tomorrow. :-)
Unfortunately Eric,
Mike and I had to go before the end of the service so we missed the slide
show. That would have been nice to see. Doug will be missed by so many
people who loved and cared for him. Many of us from high school will
remember the talented, funny guy who was always late to something because he
was catching up with a friend in the hallway.
Hope you all are well,
Lori Elmore Horter
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