Douglas Randal Fenity

Douglas Randal Fenity
Douglas Randal Fenity, 94, of Tolland, beloved husband of the late Nancy Joan (Pollard) Fenity, died peacefully on Monday, November 24, 2025, at home with hospice support.
Doug was born in Los Angeles, CA, son of the late Douglas R. Fenity Sr., and Zelda (Thompson) Fenity. He grew up in Topeka, Kansas, and was a graduate of the University of Kansas and Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine. He served our country as a U.S. Army Aviator at the end of the Korean Conflict and continued to serve afterward in the Air Force National Guard.
Doug and Nancy Joan met in Topeka when they were just teenagers. They attended Washburn Rural High School together and later married in 1955.
Following graduation from KU with a degree in business, and discharge from the Army, Doug enrolled in K-State's veterinary program while Nancy Joan, by then a registered nurse, worked at a local hospital to support them.
Doug and Nancy Joan relocated to the Chicago suburbs where they owned their first home and started a family. A vacation to New England ignited their desire to move yet again, and in 1964 they headed east to Bolton, Connecticut, where Doug joined the practice of Dr. Allan Leventhal at Bolton Veterinary Hospital.
In 1969, with Nancy Joan and their two young children, Doug purchased a modest ranch house on a quiet local highway and modified the basement level to include kennels, exam/surgery and waiting rooms, and an X-ray facility, founding Tolland Veterinary Hospital.
During the decades that followed, Doug worked long hours to build the new practice. He truly enjoyed spending time with his clients, and often remarked on how much he appreciated getting to know them and help them care for their pets. Doug also felt extremely fortunate to have wonderful staff members, several of whom became dear friends. He was happy knowing that Tolland Veterinary Hospital was still going strong 56 years later.
In his free time, Doug loved to run and cycle. He worked out at the Rockville High School track and competed in local road races. He spent many hours riding his prized 10-speed bike, which he routinely washed and waxed as if it were a classic car. He relished carpentry projects, working on his lawn, watching baseball games and taking long road trips. He appreciated contemporary architecture, fine automobiles, cookies with milk, fried clams at the beach, Hollywood musicals, jazz and big band hits, and often hummed or whistled favorite tunes when he was home and thought no one was listening. He had a wry sense of humor that was always just below the surface of his polite, Midwestern persona.
The world he and Nancy Joan had built seemed steady until a tragic accident took the life of their young son John in 1979. Their lives were shattered, but their strength, determination and deep commitment to each other saw them through. They withstood the crushing grief of this loss and continued their life journey with the loving support of their family, friends, and church community.
Doug and Nancy Joan built their dream home in Tolland in 1980, and once situated there had many happy years. They delighted in the wildlife and natural beauty that surrounded them in their new setting, welcomed grandchildren, and took time to enjoy some traveling.
Following the sale of Tolland Veterinary Hospital, Doug continued to work on weekends providing low-cost vaccination clinics at big-box pet stores. He spent his weekdays working on home projects until his beloved Nancy Joan became ill with Parkinson's Disease. This signaled the end of their active years, but their devotion to each other only intensified. Doug ceased his veterinary work and made caring for Nancy Joan his full-time occupation, until she passed in 2011.
Doug exemplified the qualities of the Silent Generation: He was hard-working and disciplined, cautious, pragmatic, loyal, patriotic, determined, and did all he could to create a world of stability for his family. Words cannot express how greatly Doug will be missed.
Doug leaves his daughter, Abigail Fenity Jeffries and her husband John of Tolland; his two grandsons, Hugh Jeffries and Lionel Jeffries both of Tolland; his two sisters, Connie Zukowski and her husband Larry of Gibsonia, PA, and Betty Fenity and her son Doug Eisemann, of Bellefonte, PA; and his nephew David Fenity of Pittsfield, VT, and niece Kristine McGill of Culver City, CA, and their families. Doug treasured his enduring friendship with the Fleischman family and regarded them as part of his own. He also leaves his "Swedish daughter" Elisabet Aiezza, who joined the Fenity family as a high school exchange student and became a lifelong friend. Doug was predeceased by his son, John Douglas Fenity and his brother, Gary Thompson Fenity.
Special thanks go out to Visiting Nurse & Healthcare Services of Connecticut, and All Ways There Home Care for their compassion and professionalism.
Doug's family will receive friends for calling hours on Friday, December 19th from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m., at the Ladd-Turkington & Carmon Funeral Home, 551 Talcottville Rd. (Rt. 83), Vernon, CT 06066.
A memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, December 20th at Bolton Congregational Church, 228 Bolton Center Rd., Bolton, CT 06043, followed by a reception in the church's Fellowship Hall.
In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to American Indian College Fund, 8333 Greenwood Blvd. Denver, CO 80221 info@collegefund.org.
For online condolences, please visit www.carmonfuneralhome.com