Douglas Woodruff McColm was born on September 26, 1933, to Marian and Eugene McColm. Eugene worked as a rubber chemist in Sumatra, Indonesia, where Doug spent the first six years of his life.
Fortunately, the family was on vacation out of the country during the Japanese invasion, and they settled in the U.S.
After attending Phillips Andover, Doug went to Oberlin College, where he met Delores Osmola. They were married on graduation day in 1955 and moved to Connecticut, where Doug received his Ph.D. in atomic physics from Yale University.
The family moved to Berkeley, California, for Doug’s post-doc position at Lawrence Berkeley National Labs, and then to Davis where Doug joined the physics faculty at UCD. He enjoyed teaching, performed research, wrote a book on atomic physics, and twice acted as department chair. He and Del raised three children: Gregory, Eric, and Laura.
Doug loved spending time with his family, teaching, playing piano, sailing in their Sunflower boat, and hiking on the seashore and in national parks. He had a great love of the wilderness and enjoyed nature documentaries. Though not a religious man, Doug and his family periodically attended the Unitarian Church of Davis. While Del was the arts editor for the Davis Enterprise, they often traveled to museums and performances.
Doug and Del were deeply devoted to each other throughout their marriage of 58 years, and Del died in 2013 after a long illness. A few years later, Doug met Joan Rawles-Davis at an event at the Unitarian Church, and they spent several loving years together companioned by a string of elderly dogs. Doug and Joan held a commitment ceremony in 2020 at the Davis Friends Meeting. When Joan’s health declined and she could no longer live independently, she moved to Southern California to be closer to her family. Shortly thereafter, Doug moved to Florida to be near his son, Greg. He died on January 13, 2026.
Doug is survived by his sons Greg and Eric, Eric’s wife Linda and their daughter Brianna, his daughter Laura and her husband Don Brotemarkle.
