Douglas Allen “Doug” Enders of Douglas, WY formerly of Interior, SD passed away on November 30, 2018 after a long battle with cancer at the age of 70.

Doug Enders was born in Kadoka on July 14, 1948 to Bonnie and Earl Enders. He graduated from Interior High School and after school he immediately joined the Army. Doug was deployed to Vietnam from 1967 to 1968 as a combat tracker and dog handler.

After returning home to South Dakota, Doug worked for various ranchers in the Interior area. On November 10, 1973 he married Esther K. Carmichael at the Wall Methodist Church.

In April of 1974 he went to work for the National Park Service as a manual laborer at the Badlands National Park. Thirty-one years and many moves later he retired in 2003 from Capulin Volcano National Monument as a Facility Manager. Doug also had the collateral duties as a Wild Land Fire Fighter and was a government certified blaster. These additional duties required Doug to travel around the Unites States from the Pacific Northwest to the East Coast fighting fires wherever he was called. Once again Doug started as a fire fighter on the line and retired as a crew boss and a liaison between various government agencies.

After retiring from the Park Service he worked as a roustabout in the natural gas fields around Sheridan for two years while Esther went to nursing school. When Esther finished school Doug took on a new full time job as “Papa Doug.” He adored his grand kids and he considered this as the best job of all.

Grateful for having shared his life are his wife Esther of Glenrock, WY; daughters, Christy and her husband Corey Hicks of Fruita, CO and Kelli McCluer of Glenrock; son, Todd and his wife Cori of Decker, MT; grandchildren, Megan and Zachary Hicks, Rana and Riley McCluer, and T.K. and Taylor Enders; his mother Bonnie Enders of Kadoka; two sisters, Lorraine (Virgil) Lineback of Fairfield,WA and Beverly (Gary) Dutton of Cope, CO; four brothers, Robert (Linda) Enders of Hermosa, Wes (Joan) Enders, Chuck (Donna) Enders, Jeff (Kerri) Enders all of Kadoka; numerous nieces and nephews; and a host of other relatives and friends.

Services are planned for early June in Wall, South Dakota.

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