Douglas Hammond, Class of 1965

Douglas Hammond ’65 died May 18, 2020. He was born in Franklin, OH to the late Owen and Alice (Combs) Hammond , just 9 weeks before his father, was deployed by the Navy to the Pacific for World War II. Doug loved sports and was Co-Captain and is in the Hall of Fame for his high school. He went on to play football at Otterbein College where he graduated with a degree in Education, was in the ‘O’Club and the Pi Kappa Phi (Country Club) fraternity.

Doug married the late Roberta Kathleen O’Friel in 1967. He had been drafted into the Army in 1966 and got deployed to Vietnam right after they married. Despite being an athlete, at 6’ 2” and 220 lbs. with 16 years of education, he was drafted and assigned to be a cook. Doug (uninvited) went in to see the Commanding Officer and convinced him that he would be much more valuable to the Army as a pilot. So off he went to OCS and flight school. He served in Vietnam for 13 months, and was singled out to be a platoon leader. As a gunship pilot, he flew the Huey Cobra helicopter for the 17th CAV, which sent him to Dak-To and the Central Highlands. During this time he was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star, and many Air Medals. He ended his Army commitment as a captain and flight instructor.
After his service, he got a job selling helicopters for Bell Helicopter. He made an impression on one of his customers, Ray Kroc, McDonalds Founder of the Franchisee business, and took a job flying for him which included flying with the Hamburgler. His next career move, took his family from Ohio to Bolton, Massachusetts in the early 80s. He was recruited by Ken Olsen, Founder of Digital Equipment Corporation, to start a flight department for the company. He ended up being Global Vice President of Administrative Services, which included the acquisition and disposition of Digital properties, worldwide.

Doug Hammond is survived by son, John Hammond; daughter, Lindsay (Stephen) Lewis, and grandkids, Stephen “Finn”, Shea, and Ashton; two sisters in laws, Sally Joranko and Mary (David) Ballinger; four nephews; Greg (Jodi) Harville, Mitch (Jennifer) Harville, David (Nora) Joranko, and Michael (Nicole) Ballinger; four nieces; Mindy Ballinger, Kelly (Chuck) Rogg, Katie (Mel) Rodriguez, and Gillian (Adam) Schoenfeld. Doug also leaves behind several great nieces and nephews.