Douglas Westbrook Ewell was born in 1957 in Front Royal, Virginia. He was the second of three children born to retired Judge John F. Ewell and Josephine (Jo) Ewell. He was educated in Warren County and graduated from Warren County High School in 1975 where he was a member of the Golf Team, Key Club, and the National Honor Society. Growing up, he was a member of Calvary Episcopal Church and Boy Scout Troop 52. He served as a Page in the VA House of Delegates during the 1972 session of the Virginia General Assembly.
Doug continued his education, earning his bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1980. While at Va. Tech, he was a member of Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity. He received The Glenney F. Bannerman Brotherhood Award in May of 1980.
He went to work as a Data Processing Supervisor for Western Geophysical and lived in Houston, Denver, Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina, Nigeria, London and Kazakhstan. After 18 years with Western Geophysical, he returned to the states to marry the love of his life, Terry Shiflett and they settled down in Frederick Co. Va. to be close to his parents and Terry’s work. He pursued his interests in landscaping, winemaking and GIS by working at Naked Mountain Winery and landscaping with DeHaven’s. While learning about the growing Virginia wine industry, he received his Geographic Information Systems certificate from Lord Fairfax Community College. He also became a certified arborist. From 2005 up to his retirement in December of 2018, he worked at Greenway Engineering as a GIS Coordinator. After retirement, he enjoyed wood working; using trees from their property to make beautiful furniture.
He was an active member of the Virginia Tech Alumni Association, where he was current and past chairman of the Shenandoah Chapter’s Annual Memorial Blood Drive held in honor of those who lost their lives in 2007. In 2012-2013 he won the National Outstanding Chapter Volunteer Award. Doug loved his HOKIES! Every fall, he and Terry could be seen at most home football games cheering on the team.
He is survived by his mother, Josephine Westbrook Ewell; his wife Terry Ewell of 20 years; his stepchildren Julian Neville Major IV (Jennifer) of Warrenton, Thomas Russell Major (Ksenia) of Richmond, and Ashley Major Haines (Stephen) of Winchester. He was blessed with six beautiful grandchildren, Macy, Julian V, Landon, Jackson, Elle, and Dawson and was known to them as PaPa D. He is also survived by his brother John F. Ewell Jr (Sharon), Ellen Ewell Innes (Jeff), his niece Lauren Ewell Nelson (Matt) and son Ben, nephew Thomas Ewell and numerous cousins whom he loved seeing yearly at Pawleys Island, SC. He was preceded in death by his father.
Visitation will be held Friday January 31, 2020 at Maddox Funeral Home from 6:00pm – 8:00pm.
Funeral Service will be held Saturday February 1, 2020 at Calvary Episcopal Church at 11:00 am.
Honorary pall bearers will be Steve Bolton, Don Clem, Bruce Gerlich, Thomas Ewell, Steve Haines, Lee Leonard, Michael Leonard, Robert Leonard, Rick Leonard, Bobby Pendleton, Doug Purdham, Stan Williams, Mike Weir, Eric Kenny, Mitch Overstreet, Paul Seufer and Marty Zuckerman.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Shenandoah Chapter Virginia Tech Alumni Association Scholarship Fund.