Douglas Ross Spangler, 87, of Crossville passed away on Monday, April 10, 2023. He was born in Knoxville, TN on February 2^nd, 1936 to John and Jennie Spangler. He enjoyed a happy childhood playing with his friends and occasionally getting into trouble, like sneaking under the construction fences to watch Neyland Stadium’s major expansion in 1948 or sneaking in to watch a game. Doug was a Volunteer for Life, from selling cokes in the stadium as a young man of 13 years to attending his last game this past fall. He held UT season tickets for 49 years. His first job was working at the grocery gas station down the street on Middlebrook Pike, where he made sandwiches and sold gas, working many hours after school and on weekends. He tried to quit high school his senior year to join the United States Navy but was quickly stopped by his father, a teacher, who believed in a good education. Douglas went on to be a huge advocate of a good education as well and was extremely proud that all of his children and seven grandchildren obtained college educations. Doug turned 18, graduated, and immediately enlisted in the United States Navy in August of 1954. After boot camp, he headed to his first station in Alaska. He trained as an aircraft mechanic and spent his career first performing maintenance on the planes, and later supervising the maintenance of jets aboard several aircraft carriers. Doug was promoted to Chief Petty Officer, and later to Master Chief Petty Officer, and retired with the rank of Chief Warrant Officer (CWO) 3 in 1974. Among his many achievements, he was particularly proud of his commendation from the Secretary of the Navy for his work designing and fabricating an aircraft modification that resulted in fast repair and turnaround time saving the Navy many man-hours. The Navy patented this design. While stationed in California Doug met and married Carolyn Killen, and together they traveled the world, raising three children, Mark, Mary Jane, and Suzanne. They happily retired in Crossville and continued traveling the world together. They were married for 56 years until Carolyn’s death in 2012. Doug fell in love and married Linda Souders in 2016. They happily enjoyed the later years of his life peacefully on the lake, enjoying their families and traveling as they could. They shared a special bond, and Linda provided exceptional care to him as his health declined. Doug was always an outdoorsman and loved to hunt and fish at any opportunity. He returned to Alaska many times to fish with family and friends. He designed and built his retirement home on the lake and enjoyed taking the family fishing or riding around on his pontoon boat. Teaching his grandchildren and playing with the great-grandchildren brought him much joy. He had a lifelong love of playing cards and played whenever he had an opportunity. Keeping his mind sharp at 87 was important. He was very excited and honored to join 130 other Veterans on the Knoxville Honor Air Flight #32 on Wednesday, April 12, 2023, but unfortunately passed away two days before the flight.

A Funeral Liturgy will be held Friday, April 14, 2023, at 6 pm at Hood Funeral Home. The family will receive friends on Friday from 4 pm-6 pm at the funeral home. A family graveside committal will be held Saturday, April 15, 2023, at Baker’s Forge Cemetery.