AlleghanyJournal.com's Facebook Page | Journal Buy/Sell Free Classifieds
Back To The Journal's Home Page

Alleghany Journal Obituaries are sponsored by...

VIDEO
* * * * *
Get Obituary Information Emailed To You Via Our AlleghanyJournal.com Breaking News Alerts System - click here or visit our Facebook Page for updates.
NEW: Journal Video Slideshows May Accompany Any Obituary - click here for details.
Obituaries

Obituary for Steven Parrish Douty Steven Parrish Douty
Longtime Regional Surveyor, Was Vietnam Veteran, Former Buena Vista City Council Member

Steven Parrish Douty, 74, of Buena Vista, Virginia, died February 10, 2022.

Steve was born in Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's house, which later became the Stonewall Jackson Memorial Hospital in Lexington.

He was a licensed land surveyor in the states of Virginia, North Carolina, West Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi. He held a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Virginia Tech and has been in the survey business since 1968, during which time he was the owner of Mountain Top Surveyors and Green Forest Surveys.

Steve was a member of the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS), a member and past president of the Virginia Association of Surveyors, as well a founder and charter member of the Virginia Association for Mapping and Land Information Systems.

He served as an adjunct faculty member for Virginia Military Institute, Virginia Tech, Old Dominion University, Central Virginia Community College, North Carolina State University and East Tennessee State University, and was a former board chairman at Dabney S. Lancaster Community College. Steve always said, "Surveying is not what I do, it's who I am." He loved passing on his knowledge and mentoring those entering the survey profession.

Steve served as a Buena Vista City Council member. He supported small business whenever he could and donated time and money to many different charitable organizations. Steve served in the Army and was a Vietnam combat veteran.

He was preceded in death by his father and mother, Max Douty and Laura Goad Douty, and his sister, Janice Pappas Douty.

Surviving are his daughters, Melissa Douty and wife, Heather, Michael Wilkening and husband, Chip; grandchildren, Alexandra Coughlan and partner, Alexander, and Cooper Paxton; great-grandson, Michael Pruorn; nephew and business partner, Chris Pappas and his children, Chance Osowski-Pappas and Jasper Osowski-Pappas; uncle, Horace Douty and wife, Ellen; aunt, Shirley Douty Rion; former wife and mother of his children, Patti Griffith Spinner; and more cousins and friends than we can count.

A celebration of life is being arranged with details will follow.

Please do not send flowers. Instead, the next time you are out, pick up the tab of the person or family sitting near you. Buy a round for your friends or tell a great story and laugh.

One of his favorite quotes: "Why we touch glasses during a toast:
"When we fill our glass, we can see the liquid pour, see the
color of the liquid, see the ripples it makes.
"When we bring the glass to our nose,
we can smell the liquid and its complex bouquet.
"When we taste the liquid, we can taste its sweetness
or its bitterness and its depth of flavor. "When we raise the glass
we can feel the glass in our hand, feel its substantial weight.
"And finally, when we touch the glasses together,
we can hear the ringing of the glass.
"It brings all five senses together,
just as it brings people together when they give a toast.
"It’s a sharing of the senses and the sharing of companionship."
Arrangements are being handled by Bolling, Grose, & Lotts Funeral Home and Cremation Services.