Doug died on November 3, 2015 at his home. His ashes were interred at Waveland Cemetery in Prairie City, IA.

Doug was born to William and Ruth Vander Linden Jansz in Pella, IA on August 29, 1933. He graduated from Pella High School and attended Central College and Drake University. He began working for Western Electric as a communications installer and his job would take him to cities all over Iowa and from North Platte NE, to San Diego CA and Manhatten New York City.

Doug married Central College coed, Joyce Elfin in 1958. They lived in Des Moines where a daughter and son were born, then 15 years in Prairie City where another daughter joined the family. Doug became a member of Preston Masonic Lodge and served on the Prairie City Council. In 1980, they moved to Cedar Rapids where Doug was Operations Supervisor for northeast Iowa. Returning to Des Moines, Doug retired in 1989 from AT&T Technologies, the successor to Western Electric. Seeking adventure, Doug and Joyce worked summers in Denali National Park in Alaska, volunteered in Gallatin National Forest in Montana and also enjoyed many trips
to the Caribbean, Europe, Africa, Australia, Cuba and other places in the world and U.S.

Doug will be remembered for his laid back manner and wry sense of humor. He put his family first and was a steady encouraging influence.
He enjoyed swimming, boating, mountain hiking and attending Hawkeye football games with friends. In 2000, he was diagnosed with MS. He is donating his central nervous system tissue to the Rocky Mountain MS Tissue Bank at the Colorado School of Medicine for research.

Cherishing Doug's memory are his wife, Joyce; daughters, Marti Parkinson of Crowley, TX, Heidi Dexter of Mountain Lakes, NJ; son-in-law, Kevin Dexter; grandchildren, Zara and Nicholas Parkinson, Zachary and Ryan Dexter; and his half-sisters, Penny Harvey of Ojai, CA and Pamela Jansz of Rancho Murieta, CA. Doug was preceded in death by his son, Christopher.

Funeral Home Details Published in Des Moines Register on Nov. 5, 2015