M. Douglas “Doug” Twibell, 84, former owner of Twibell’s Fern Hill Funeral Home in Aberdeen, Washington, died Saturday morning, July 5, 2025, at Harbor Regional Health in Aberdeen.
Doug was born on May 26, 1941, in Tacoma, Washington to K. Lynn and Cleva N. (Allison) Twibell. He was a graduate of Lincoln High School class of 1959 and attended Washington State University, University of Puget Sound and graduated Magna Cum Laude from the California College of Mortuary Science, Los Angeles, in 1964.
In 1963, Doug met Barbara J. Dean at an Olympia Ski Club event and two weeks later, on the porch of White Pass Ski Lodge, Doug proposed. On June 8, 1963, Doug and Barbara were married at the The First Christian Church of Tacoma, Washington. They were married for 55 years, when Barbara passed away of a stroke on March 25, 2018 in Seattle, Washington.
He will have been in funeral service for 65 years in 2025. Doug started work as an apprentice at Gaffney Mortuary in Tacoma in 1961-62. He worked for Mills & Mills Funeral Directors of Olympia 1962-63 and then for House of Hall Mortuary in Los Angeles 1963-64. He returned to mills & Mills for a year before heading east to Walla Walla, Washington and working for Groseclose Mortuary for two years. He returned to Mills & Mills in 1967 and purchased the company in 1980 from Dan McCaughn, This later was merged with another funeral home and cemetery in Olympia and through acquisitions over the next few years grew to a company comprising of 19 other funeral homes and cemeteries in Washington, Oregon and California, which in turn became a part of a large corporate company. Doug and Barbara decided to get back to basics and the Twibells purchased Fern Hill Funeral Home in Aberdeen in 1994. Doug sold the business to his son Keith and his wife Heather Twibell in 2019. Doug kept his foot in the door, helping on services and taking care of the lawns at Fern Hill Funeral Home.
Seven months after Barbara’s passing, a mutual friend of theirs, came into Doug’s life and a few months later, on Aug. 17, 2019, Doug and Janice M. Shipman were married at Immanuel Baptist in Hoquiam. She resides at the family home in Aberdeen. Doug and Jan traveled a lot in the U.S. and Scandinavia.
Doug is past president of the Washington State Funeral Directors Association, and was honored as the Funeral Director of the Year in 2005. In 2022, Doug was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his many years of service to grieving families and the funeral profession. He was a seven-year member of the National Funeral Directors Association Policy Board; a member and past president of the Rotary Club of Aberdeen and this year received the Aberdeen Rotary Lifetime Achievement Award. He also had 55 years of Perfect Attendance at Rotary, NOT missing any weekly meetings. He was a member of Immanuel Baptist Church, Hoquiam, former chairman of Immanuel Baptist Church Building Committee; and a 50-year member and past master of Harmony Lodge, No. 18, F&AM, Tumwater , a member of Scottish Rite Bodies, Valley of Olympia and the Afifi Temple of the Shrine; Past Royal Patron of the Order of Amaranth, Capitol Court No. 37, Olympia; and the Order of Eastern Star, Olympia Chapter No. 36; and Olympia Elks Lodge, No. 186.
He has had a lifelong interest in skiing starting when he was 13 on Mt. Rainier at Paradise. He continued to ski until the age of 72, being sure that his sons didn’t always beat him to the bottom of the hill.
Doug had great enjoyment with boating on Puget Sound, the San Juan Island and the Gulf Islands of BC. In 2001 his wife, Barb, their dog, Chester, and Doug fulfilled a dream of many years by taking six weeks in their own boat to go to Alaska via the inside passage to Skagway and return to Puget Sound.
Doug is survived by his wife of five years, Janice Shipman-Twibell of Aberdeen; two sons: Keith L. (Heather) Twibell of Cosmopolis, Washington and Paul D. Twibell of Alki Beach, Washington; step-daughter, Angie Shipman; a stepson James (Becky) Shipman of Snohomish, Washington; a brother, Dennis Twibell of Montlake, Washington; five grandchildren: April Lynn (Philip) Rhodes of Bozman, Montana; Amy Twibell of Cosmopolis, Washington, Abigail J. Twibell of Cosmopolis, Joseph D. Twibell of Hesston, Kansas and Allie M. Twibell of Cosmopolis, Washington; and his great -grandson, Collin J. Rhodes of Bozeman, Montana. Doug was preceded in death by his first wife, Barbara J. Twibell.
Funeral directing has been a lifelong passion for Doug. He knew as a teenager that this was what he wanted to do. Helping others when they cannot have the ability to help themselves because of the stress of perhaps their most crucial time of their lives, losing a family member or close friend that meant so much. That is the greatest reward to Doug, and now in a funeral home that involves his own family members, that they too have dedicated themselves to serving their community.
A message of condolence or of a memory can be sent to his family at www.fernhillfuneral.com
There will be a time of visitation, viewing and reminiscing on Tuesday, July 15 from 1 to 8 p.m. at Twibell’s Fern Hill Funeral Home in Aberdeen. A funeral service will take place on Wednesday, July 16 at 11 a.m. in Immanuel Baptist Church in Hoquiam, Washington. Burial will take place at Mills & Mills Memorial Park in Tumwater at 2:30 p.m. that same day.
Donations can be made to the For Him Fund at Immanuel Baptist Church, PO Box 703, Hoquiam, WA 98550 or Polio Plus, Rotary International at www.rotary.org
Arrangements are entrusted to Twibell’s Fern Hill Funeral Home in Aberdeen, Washington.
