Douglas Averill McFadden, husband, father, grandfather, scholar, researcher, and sailor died on August 3, 2022, exactly 1 year and 2 days after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.  He was born on November 14, 1947 in Painsville Ohio, son of William Lyle and Arlow Florence (Averill). Doug graduated from Brush High School in 1965.   He received his B.S. degree from Grand Valley University in Michigan and then was offered a graduate assistantship in anthropology in Western Michigan.  Before completing his M.S. degree he was drafted into the Army and received an honorable discharge. In 1972, he married the love of his life, Johanna Sue Buerkel in the Lyndhurst Presbyterian Church and they moved out West where they truly belonged.

He attended the University of Northern Colorado where he received his Masters Degree in Anthropology with a focus on archeology. Doug and Jo then traveled to England where they spent a year digging in various Saxon and Roman sites. Upon returning from Europe, Doug worked for the Forest Service in Pagosa Springs, Colorado doing inventories for their various timber sales.

In 1976, Doug started working the Kanab Field Office of the B. L. M. and was responsible for the archeology for 2 l/2 million acres which included the Escalante Area. He has numerous reports published as part of the Utah Cultural Resource Series.  The display at the visitor’s center is a mock up of the Road Kill site in Kane County where he gave numerous tours to the Boy and Girl Scouts.  He also ran field schools in the area – his outdoor classroom.

Upon retiring from the BLM Doug started McFadden Archeological Consulting and completed investigations on the Paria Plateau, Vermillion Cliffs N.M., State Lands of Utah, Kaibab N.F., Ariz, Strip BLM, and for the Grand Canyon Trust

Doug’s Mexican office was the Sea of Cortez where he has been sailing for over 30 years.

 Doug is survived by his wife Johanna (Buerkel) , sons Matthew (Mindy Lee), Cody Wyoming;  Andrew (Melissa) Redding  California; grandchildren Cache, Bradlee, Piper, Louella, and Marco.  He leaves behind his brother, William (MaryAnne) , niece Becky and nephew Doug.

He was preceded in death by his parents.

The celebration of life was held while Doug was still with us, celebrating his 50^th wedding anniversary.  He donated his body to the University of Utah Medical School to advance the study of science and medicine.  Some of his ashes will be scattered in the Sea of Cortez. No flowers or food are necessary but contributions to PancreaticCancer.org could be made.