Douglas Norman Head

Douglas Norman Head, 77, of Carmel, Indiana passed away March 13, 2021. He was born October 1, 1943, in Great Falls, Montana, the son of the late Norman Bradbury and Ellen Viola (Sibley) Head. He married Linda Dare Gumprecht on September 13, 1966.

Doug received his Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Washington State University. After graduation, Doug served honorably in the United States Navy. He entered into Naval service from Walla Walla, Washington and attended Naval Officer Candidate School (OCS) at Naval Base Newport, Rhode Island. He also attended Civil Engineer Corps Officers School. During his four years of active duty service he was awarded the National Defense Service Medal and was advanced to Lieutenant in April 1970.
He retired as P.E. with the Federal Highway Administration. He also served in jury trials as an expert witness and was active with crash analysis cases under his firm, Head Engineering. He was a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Doug was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and served a Family History Mission.
He was a Boy Scout and later served as a scout master and a member of the local council for several years.
He loved to go camping, fishing, and hiking in the mountains. Doug took his family on several cross country road trips to Montana to share that love with them. On one of those trips he took his family to visit Hungry Horse Dam near Glacier National Park. This was the site of one of Doug’s earliest engineering projects. As a very young child he imitated the men who were constructing the dam. He made his own dam at the end of the city’s drainage pipe. It was so well built the neighborhood flooded and the city had to cut off the end of the pipe to remove it.

As a youth, Doug was the owner of a Montana gold mine. He would spend time with his family panning for gold. When his children were in elementary school he would bring his equipment to the classroom and demonstrate the technique used to pan for gold. Doug was very active in his children’s schools. He served on the Prairie Hills School District 144 school board in Cook County Illinois.

Doug enjoyed volunteering with youth activities. He taught early morning seminary for a couple years for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He also served as an Umpire for Girls Softball games for the Hazel Crest, IL park district. He was a fair and impartial umpire as demonstrated by the time he struck out his oldest daughter even though she cried when he did it.

As a youth, Doug learned woodworking. Among the many pieces of furniture he made for his family during his life were a kitchen table, a bedside table, a few benches, a sewing table, and a beautiful cedar chest. He also enjoyed technology. He was an early user of home computers. He had a home computer in 1982 and was self taught in some basic programming.

In his later years Doug developed a passion for bird watching. He had several feeders outside his large picture windows in the trees of his backyard. He also enjoyed cultivating tulips and organizing grandsons and local boys to do home repairs on his house. Last summer he sat in a chair and dug holes with a post hole digger while he directed others in the construction of his deck and fence.

Doug would frequently face time with his grandchildren and really liked to get letters from them. His Great Grand-daughter had him on speed dial. During the past year he also discovered the joy of Amazon shopping. He typically would receive several deliveries every day.

He is survived by his loving wife of 54 years, Linda Dare Head; 11 children, Debora (Bruce) Bonney, Rebecca (Byron) Law, Andrew Head, Cherie (Christian) Starnes, Paula (Ryan) Eblin, Aaron Head, Misha (Andrew) Horstman, Adam (Lindsay) Head, Elizabeth (C.J.) Humes, Alanna (Hiram) Holt, and Alexander (Melissa) Head; 23 grandchildren; 7 great grandchildren; two sisters-in-law, Virginia Gumprecht and Nancy (Stuart) Yeager; and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in passing by a grandson, Michael Thomas Bonney.

Due to Covid restrictions, services will be private. A live stream of the service will take place at 12 noon Saturday, March 20, 2021.  To view the live stream please click here. Memorial contributions may be directed to Family Search thru The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Arrangements were entrusted to Flanner Buchanan – Carmel.