Douglas P. Bratten, aka Doug, Dougie, Dad, Daddy, Daddio, G-pa, Grandpa, Great Grandpa Bratten, Grumpy Old Man, Camcorder Man, UD, Uncle Dougie, Dug and no doubt other intriguing nicknames, departed this world on April 13, 2026, a little over a month shy of his 95th birthday. He was born in the Spring of 1931 in Columbus, Ohio to Mary Haney Bratten and Dr. Paul C. Bratten and was the eldest of three children. His childhood was spent in Sydney and Dayton, OH. Doug considered himself fortunate to be a child “during a time of great activity–boys were excited about WWII and were greatly influenced by it, where most games were war themed”. As a young teenager he was at Camp Polk, Louisiana briefly, where he got to ride tanks and remembered it as being “too big for words”.

In 1945 Doug and his younger sister Elizabeth and younger brother, David, moved to Winston-Salem, North Carolina where he was given the dubious nickname “Dumb Yankee” which he took in humorous stride. He graduated from South Fork High School in 1950 then joined the Korean conflict in 1951. The trip crossing the Pacific Ocean from Seattle, Washington to Tokyo, Japan made an impression on him. Doug was a highly classified cryptographer, decrypting top-secret teletype messages. He would eventually meet and marry Toshie Sato and the two would return to NC in 1955. Doug went on to receive his bachelors degree in Engineering Physics from North Carolina State University and was a lab assistant and graduate teaching assistant while working on his masters degree at Wake Forest University. They had three children and after accepting an engineering job at Sanders Associates, moved to Merrimack, New Hampshire eventually settling in Wilton, NH in 1967. Doug would spend nearly six decades there and became a fixture in his neighborhood where his elaborate Christmas light displays, often run on his own hand-made dimmer switches, would put a smile on passers by. Dug as he would sometime refer to himself as (he was a bit of a linguistic rebel), often fondly recalled favorite memories-growing up with a large extended family in OH; family reunions on the Outer Banks of NC; and lighthearted joking with his grandchildren, nieces and nephews. He enjoyed moonlit cross country skiing treks on his wooded land and often said he wished he had a 2nd life for Photoshop.

Doug was a singular, multi-faceted, multidimensional Renaissance man with a cutting wit and an articulate opinion on a variety of topics. From a young age he was skilled at electronics, explosives, chemistry, fixing up cars and drawing. In his youth he ran a popcorn stand and worked in a junkyard and a butcher shop. As an adult he worked at Reynolds Tobacco Company, generated text and logic diagrams at Western Electric, was a machinist and eventually a circuit design engineer. He continued his creative pursuits as a painter and invented his own art form, the “tactile”, photographed unusually beautiful ice formations and created unique candles with his wife which he sold all over New England during the 1970’s, some of which are still being sold today in Vermont. Doug was self-employed for many years then worked at Kimball Physics in Wilton and as a substitute teacher at ConVal High School in Peterborough, NH. He spent much of his free time outside-gardening, passionately working the earth, moving boulders, building with concrete, digging up antique bottles and other detritus and making paths in the woods around his home. Doug was a prolific writer his whole life and over the last decades wrote his magnum opus called “The Stories” about another world named “Mesomundi” which “existed billions of years before our solar system was formed”.

Doug is survived by his daughters Carolyn (Dax) of TN and Irene (Steve) of VT; grandchildren Kristen (Brock) of AL, Ben (Beth) of TN, Jordan (Kyle) of VT and Julia of IL; former son-in-law Bill (Stacy) of AL; two great-granddaughters and a great-grandson of AL, two great-grandsons of TN, and a great-grandson of VT. He also leaves behind his sister Libby of TX, his sister-in-law Judy of OH and multiple nieces and nephews all of whom he remembered fondly, especially during his last days. He had a number of very special friends and neighbors in Wilton and was beloved as an integral member of their neighborhood. He is predeceased by his beloved wife Toshie, his son Eric, his brother David, his good partners Marcie and Peg and his soulmate, Phyl whom he met while they were both in their 80’s. She soon moved to NH from California and they shared too few years together.

During his last days, Doug endeared himself to the caring crew of the UVM Home, Health and Hospice and the compassionate staff at the McClure Miller Respite House in Colchester, Vermont. He was returned to his beloved New Hampshire and will continue to help medical students at the Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine as he donated his body to their Anatomical Gift Program where his wife was also a donor after she passed in 1990.

Concerning his inevitable passing, Doug wanted to pass on this message: “Most of my friends know I’m heading West, sleeping a lot. Getting ready for the long nap! So you may not hear from me for awhile. Behave! (young folks need guidance).”

In lieu of a memorial or flowers, donations may be sent to Food For The Poor foodforthepoor.org/surveys/in-memory-of-in-honor/ or the UVM Home Health & Hospice or the McClure Miller Respite House at uvmhomehealth.org/give (click on “Donate Now” button).