Ancestors

John Smart, father of Gladys Smart and grandfather to Doug, was featured in an article written in Thistledown magazine circa 1976. The article contains the transcripts of an interview conducted by high school student Pam Kerner only a few weeks before Doc's death. In it Doc talks about his childhood, the Great Depression and family.

Doc was born in 1880 in Virginia into a large family. His father worked tirelessly to bring home money working multiple jobs as a carpenter, a farmer that sheared sheep and split rails. Doc's father did whatever he could to make ends meet. Doc said of his father, "he didn't have good home raising. He worked for 50 cents a day to support two families." (p. 52)


Doc described his mother, however, as "a religious woman who was a pretty good seamstress." (p.52)


He studied veterinary medicine at Ohio State which was then called 'University'. He said that his studies came easy because "...having handled so many cattle and horses and sheep, it just came natural. They called me, 'a pretty good vet'." (p.53)

Poverty taught Doc the value of living within his means and he said that the Great Depression "...wasn't a depression for me. It was a depression for a lot of people who didn't want to take the little things. The thing of it is, a lot of us have it in our mind that we've got to have this and we've got to have that."


Doc moved several times in his life. He states in the article:

"I've lived in [Ohio] since 1903 when my wife and I moved here. In 1919 we went to Pennsylvania and lived there till 1925. Then I came back [to Ohio]. I've been married three times and had 14 children." (p.55)

Doc passed away in a convalescent home at the age of 96 in 1976. Doc was able to recall his childhood and facts about American history that he lived with such accuracy that the interviewer was able to confirm Doc's assertions only by referencing history books. In his lifetime Doc had been a horse trainer, a preacher, a veterinarian and a generous friend to many. (p.52)


Information adapted from:
Kerner, Pam.""Doc" Smart." Thistledown. Nungesser, David. Vol. 3 No. 1. Pataskala: Watkins Memorial High School, 1976. 52-56.

Photographs of John "Doc" Smart taken by Steve Hunt (c)1976

Where Doug and Music Agreed

Doug was an enormous country music fan. He considered himself a country boy. He often talked about the days he spent on his grandfather's farm with the animals and how that experience soured him to hunting after locking eyes with a deer he never shot. Shortly thereafter he became a fisherman because according to him it "evened out the odds for the animal."

In the video above Merle Haggard sings about taking his son (Dan) fishing while he's young because time slips by so fast before children become adults and move away. This was all too much of the case with Douglas. He loved all of his children and when they grew up and made families of their own he loved them too and he also found kids in his neighborhood to mentor. Some of the neighborhood kids were at his funeral and they shed just as many tears as his immediate family.

Family life had to be undoubtedly hard in the 30's and 40's because Doug considered a person doing alright if they "weren't cold, they weren't wet and they weren't hungry," as noted in Willie Nelson's Good Times:

Anything beyond that was just icing on the cake. Doug would recall some of the struggles that people had to endure during the Great Depression and the civil rights movement and would mention Sam Cooke's A Change is Gonna Come as the iconic song that epitomized the struggle and hope of a people.

Doug traveled the world in his lifetime and saw the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall, the Great Depression and countless recessions, the Bay of Pigs, the assassination of a US President and a senator, the fall of Apartheid, the invasion of Kuwait and the Middle East Wars, the Vietnam War, the Korean War, the end to the Cold War, the end of Communism, the end of the Soviet Union, the rise of the Bush doctrine and America's first Black president. During his seventy-eight plus years Doug saw plenty of change that had come.

And even with witness to these and other evolving world events Doug held fast to the beliefs that "the more things change the more they stay the same," and "there's nothing new under the sun." He was and is an eternal Highwayman:

Friends and Acquaintances

Doug always said, "if you can have two people in a lifetime that you can call a friend, then consider yourself fortunate." He was a friend to many, but only considered a few to be his true 'friends', the rest were according to him, "acquaintances".

Good friend Sam Jordan (deceased)

Sam eventually went on from the Navy to open a restaurant in 1959 in San Francisco called "Sam Jordan's Bar" which is still in operation today. It was there that Norman Johnson was able to contact Doug after having moved to the west coast post retirement and in search of his naval buddy. Sam called Doug directly when Norman (Big John as Doug knew him) walked into his bar looking for Doug. After Sam described Norman's appearance to Doug the two reunited and the rest was history.

Best friend Norman (Big John) Johnson

Big John and Doug shared a friendship that lasted almost 45 years. Every Friday John would go by Doug's house and they'd share a 'hooker', a cup of Brandy and coke, and tell lies about fishing trips and days too far gone to remember.

Eating with Kitchen friend Chester Wright

Chester and Doug experimented over the years with more cuisines than the world has countries. Chester often gave Doug an annual supply of jams, jellies and pickled delights for his family's consumption.

Partner in crime Leo Baker (deceased)

Leo was a no nonsense, take-it-or-leave-it kind of guy. Leo was kind to those he loved but had a cutting business sense about him. Leo didn't let anybody talk crazy to him, except Doug. When Leo died of cancer in the eighties, Doug said that he felt like he'd lost a brother.

Great Grandchildren

Alisha and Danny (Monique's children, Tina's grandchildren)



Alisha, Danny and Brandon (Monique's children, Tina's grandchildren)



Kaylaa (William's daughter, Vanessa's granddaughter)







Shayanna & Amiya (Sidney's daughters, Karen's grandchildren)



Daesha (Wyatt's daughter, Karen's granddaughter)



Wyatt Jr. (Wyatt's son, Karen's grandson)

Obituary

Douglas Stanford Slocum son of Gladys L. Slocum and Arthur F. Slocum departed this life at the age of 78. He fathered 9 children and is survived by 7 and 1 stepson. Douglas (Punchie) Stanford Slocum Jr., Lestina Denise Slocum, Edith Vanessa Slocum-Williams, Karen Zelma Slocum-Green, Keisha Smith, Katema Gladys Slocum, Kendal Justin Slocum, Khrishna Jude Moore, Ronald Slocum (Deceased) and Craig Slocum (Deceased). 12 grandchildren Monique Roxanne Weems, Wilburt Tyrone Slocum, Lestina Williamena Weems, William Franklin Lindsay, Wyatt Slocum, Sidney Sweeny, James Green, Douglas Stanford Knox, Michelle Knox, Kamyron J. Slocum, Niari I Smith and Komari A. Smith and many great grandchildren. Douglas Slocum was a retired Naval veteran with 20 years of dedicated service. He is loved and will be missed by all.

Grandchildren

Michelle (Doug Jr.'s daughter)*

Wilbert (Tina's son)

Monique with Tina Jr. (Tina's daughters)

Sidney (Karen's middle son) with daughters Amiya and Shayanna
[Thing 1 and Thing 2]

Wyatt (Karen's eldest son)


James (Karen's youngest son)

William (Pictured with mother Edith)

Daniel (Khris' son) a few years back. He is now an early teenager.

Komari and Niari (Keisha's twins)

Kamyron (Katema's son) at around 10 yrs old. He is now 16yrs old.

Clockwise from top left: Kendal (the baby) held by Keisha flanked by Wilbert on the left and behind Katema and Monique, Danny and Alisha, Doug with Kamyron, Daniel (Khris' son), Kamyron crawling on Halloween, Karen with Sidney and Wyatt, Komari and Niari

Doug with Kamyron as a baby

*Not pictured is Douglas Knox, Michelle's brother and Punchie's son.

Children

Circa 60's - 1970's

Doug Jr. (Punchie)

Edith and Karen


Lestina (Tina) in Egypt


Khrishna (Doug's son by marriage)


Keisha with son Komari and daughter Nairi


Kendal


Katema at her college graduation a few years back

Burial

The burial was conducted on Monday March 30, 2009 at 10:30 am at the Sacramento Valley VA National Cemetery in Dixon, CA. Naval representatives performed a brief but poignant burial ceremony that included a 21 gun salute and the playing of Taps [See Video Below] .

Keisha Smith, Doug's eldest daughter by second wife Carolyn received the flag after the ceremony. The coffin was not lowered into the grave at the time because the ceremonial services were conducted distant to the grave.

The Sacramento Valley VA National Cemetery was undergoing construction on the date of the burial. Doug will rest in lot 502 at the completion of the facility in 2010.