Douglas S. Haskell

CHARLESTOWN, NH - Douglas Stuart Haskell of Charlestown, NH, died unexpectedly after a long illness on May 27, 2017.
He was born on January 5, 1949, in Beverly, MA, and moved to Ludlow, VT, with his parents and siblings in 1952. A 1967 graduate of Black River High School, Doug attended Franklin Pearce College, the Cleveland School of Welding and graduated from Northampton College in 1972.
An avid skier throughout his life, Doug started on the Okemo ski patrol in 1966, and was Ski Patrol Director for several years in the '70s. In the later '70s he learned to scuba dive and became a salvage diver for Mel Fisher in Key West, who later found the Spanish Galleon Atocha.
Doug was one of three founding owners of Dadd's Restaurant at the base of Okemo Mountain along with Dick Smith and Alan Cort in 1974. Dadd's was an acronym of the 3 friends names and also included another close friend, Dan Desfosses for the distinctive fourth "D". He also tended bar at Nikki's restaurant at the foot of the Okemo access road in 1973 and 74 then intermittently when in the Ludlow area until 1980. He worked construction for Hans Forlie in the early 80s then turned his longtime interest in food services into a successful career in food sales at Independent Foods in 1984. He was recruited by Sysco Corporation in 1995 as a sales specialist and spent 20 rewarding years with the company making many lasting friendships with his co-workers and customers. He served as a member of the Board for the Culinary Arts program at River Valley Technical Center in Springfield VT for several years until his retirement in 2015.
On his 30th birthday in 1979 at Dadd's he met his future wife Karen Grandfield of Montpelier VT. They were married Sept 13, 1980. For 33 years of their happily married life Doug and Karen lived on High Street in Cavendish before moving to Paris Avenue, Charlestown NH in 2014.
After his retirement from Sysco Corporation in 2015, his love of driving motivated him to work as a driver for Green Mountain at Fox Run and for Subaru of Claremont. He also enjoyed driving customers privately.
Doug enjoyed reading, skiing, hiking, long walks, breakfast and travel. He and Karen loved animals and for 13 years Doug was often seen walking in Cavendish with their German Shepard, Maya. He had an unending passion for adventurous foods and cuisines. Doug and Karen travelled extensively in the US, Canada, the Caribbean and Europe throughout their 36 years of marriage.
He was predeceased by father Russell C. Haskell and is survived by mother Evelyn, wife Karen, brother Tim and wife Kay, sister LeeAnn and husband Peter, brother Andrew and wife Mary, several nieces, nephews and grandnieces.
A celebration of Doug's life is planned for September with notice to follow.