Douglas Colcock “Doug” Lenz was born to George and Sherry Lenz on January 27, 1953 in Havre de Grace, MD. His arrival was eagerly awaited by his older sister, Sharon. Sharon and Doug were later joined in the Lenz household by two younger sisters, Lauren and Sarah. He spent his youth in Maryland—first Elkridge and then Eldersburg. His family moved to Eldersburg in Carroll County when I-95 was being built through their Elkridge neighborhood. He attended South Carroll High School in Sykesville, MD, graduating in 1971. Doug’s high school years were marked by his active participation as president of the Student Government Association at South Carroll. He loved sports and was the voice of South Carroll play-by-play at the home football games.
Doug was influenced to choose West Point by the example of his brother-in-law, Richard Irwin, West Point Class of 1962, whom he very much admired and respected. Doug was especially interested in West Point because of the strong broad education of the whole person, including leadership, sports and academics. He also was attracted to a life of service to something greater than himself. As a bonus, he was appreciative that attending West Point allowed him to finance his college education without assistance from his parents.
Doug entered USMA on July 1, 1971 as a member of the Class of 1975. Following Beast Barracks, he became a member of Company C-1, leaving only briefly during firstie year to be 1st Battalion, First Regiment adjutant. He is well remembered by his former roommates as loving lots of fresh Hudson Valley winter air; there was, a constant struggle to keep the barracks’ window in a mutually appropriate open position.
Doug loved the English language, taking as many English courses as possible in a heavily math- and science-based loaded USMA curriculum. He continued studying the French language and always loved visiting France, especially Paris. He was an avid Army football fan his entire life—an Army loss could ruin an entire weekend! He loved West Point and the ideals for which it stood. Despite his love of West Point, he still made many weekend trips to Selinsgrove, PA to see his high school sweetheart, Judy Lambert, who was attending Susquehanna University. Judy was also frequently seen at West Point.
Doug graduated June 4, 1975, having selected Infantry as his branch. Shortly after graduation, on June 14, 1975, in Smallwood, MD, he married Judy. Following two months of graduation leave, the couple was off to Fort Benning, GA for the Infantry Officer Basic Course. This was followed by Ranger School, having already completed Airborne training while a cadet.
For his first assignment, he was assigned as a platoon leader to 2/87th Infantry Battalion, 8th Infantry Division, in Mainz, Germany. Doug enjoyed this mechanized infantry unit, finding it to be a lot of fun. Much of his time there was spent conducting training exercises in the beautiful German countryside and villages of the Fulda Gap. Both he and Judy also enjoyed traveling in Germany, France and England.
He returned to the United States at Fort Sill, OK to complete the Artillery Officer Advanced Course. Following that, he was assigned to 1/508th Infantry Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, NC, serving as the S-3 Air. Despite being Airborne trained and in an Airborne unit, Doug never really developed a fondness for jumping out of a perfectly good airplane. While at Fort Bragg, Doug made the tough decision to separate from the Army.
In September 1980, he left the U.S. Army and began working for Exxon Company, USA. With Exxon he went from Memphis to New Orleans to Memphis, then Houston, back to Memphis, Boston, Guam, and finally back to Houston. He and his wife Judy used to joke that they transferred much more frequently with Exxon than they ever had with the Army. Doug worked for Exxon Marketing in the area of fuels distribution—his experience included terminal operations in Chalmette, LA and Memphis, TN; regional sales manager in Boston, MA; and head of Esso Guam.
He developed a passion for sailing with the Marianas Yacht Club in Guam, serving there as commodore. He and Judy learned to sail on 17-foot Lasers, a truly unforgiving craft. It was especially a challenge in the somewhat stiff Guam winter breezes; beginning sailors in their class of endured two broken noses. Once trained, Judy and Doug spent many weekend hours sailing and working on their 21-foot sailboat, the “Bobalong,” in the protected waters of Susa Bay.
In 1984, Doug found another great love, Acadia National Park and Mount Desert Island. A vacation trip to New England from Houston led to several return visits and the purchase of a log cabin in Somesville, ME. He spent many hours hiking the trails in Acadia, birding, and canoeing the pristine lakes.
Doug and Judy had no children.
Doug was a great friend to his classmates and those he met. He had an impish sense of humor and was outgoing and friendly. He was unfailingly kind and considerate of others and absolutely honest and ethical in all dealings. He was a person of great self-discipline. He believed in service to others and continued teaching English to a recent immigrant in Houston until a few weeks before his death.
He died April 6, 1996 after a hard-fought battle with cancer. He is buried at Brookside Cemetery in Somesville.
— Judy Lenz Marcogliese, spouse, and David Rittenhouse, classmate