Douglas Adam Long

Douglas Adam Long

Douglas Adam Long, 62, of Lisle, Illinois, passed away Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025, from a sudden complication during treatment for leukemia at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, surrounded by his family.

Doug was born on Oct. 22, 1962, in Anderson, Indiana, the second-born twin of Fred and Patricia Long. He is survived by his parents; his wife, Kay (Bacon) Long; his children, Adam Long and Sarah Long; his brothers, David Long, William Long, and Benjamin (Carrie) Long; his nephews, Alex and Nicholas Long; and his niece, Alexa Carson.

From an early age, Doug nurtured a passion for movies -- and the Oscars, which he and Dave first watched at age 9 on a small black-and-white TV, the volume turned low so their parents wouldn't hear from the other room. He became a lifelong learner as a child, taking weekly piano lessons, going on regular trips to the library with his family, and checking out a reel-to-reel projector to show movies on the living room wall. He and his brother Dave wrote and directed plays, casting brothers, cousins and friends in various parts. They and their cousins Ed and Jim also wrote a family newspaper, which had a small but rapt readership.

Doug attended Lindbergh Elementary School (1967-74), East Side Junior High School (1974-76) and Highland High School, graduating in 1980. In high school, Doug worked on the school yearbook, sang in the show choir and fell in love with the theater. Doug double-majored in journalism and theater at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, graduating in 1984. There, he met his future wife, Kay, where they both worked at the student newspaper, the Daily News, and its weekly magazine, Weekend.

He worked for several years as a reporter for the Anderson newspapers. Doug then attended Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, where he earned a Master of Arts in Theater and Drama and a Master of Fine Arts in Directing. During that time, he taught acting and oral interpretation classes and served as Director of Audience Development in the theater department.

In 1996, he and his family moved to Chicago, where he pursued a theater career, which included work at Steppenwolf Theatre, Victory Gardens Theatre, New Tuners, Bailiwick Repertory and Village Players of Oak Park. He also taught acting and directed students at several Chicago-area universities, and in 2000 began teaching performance of literature, chamber theater and public speaking at DePaul University in Chicago. In 2006, he moved to the First-Year Program and was named Director in 2009, a post he held for more than 15 years. In the First-Year Program, Doug taught classes such as Movie Musicals, Hollywood's Golden Year: 1939, The Films of Alfred Hitchcock, Chicago Movies, Chicago Theatre and Chicago Music.

Doug was a longtime member of St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church in Lisle, where he sang in the choir, and later of St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, where he sang in the choir and was a lector.

A funeral was held on Saturday, Aug. 30, in Downers Grove, Illinois. A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, Oct. 25, in Woodridge, Illinois; for details, email kaylong1222@gmail.com. Interment will be private.