From Doug’s obituary, we learned he was an accomplished painter and fisherman. He lived in Newport News, Virginia for 24 years until his death in 2011.

Douglas Dean Wakenight

Born: 12 AUG 1959 in Illinois

Father: Raymond Luther Wakenight (1916 to 2000)
Mother: Ethel Pauline Stark (1924 to 2006)

Spouse: Deborah A Slawson (1956 to Unknown/Still Living)

Married: 4 Sep 1987 in Newport News, Virginia

Child:

Theresa A Wakenight (1988)

Died: 19 FEB 2011 in Newport News, Virginia

Obituary:

Daily Press Feb. 23 to Feb. 24, 2011

NEWPORT NEWS – Douglas Wakenight passed away on Feb. 19, 2011, at the age of 51.

Doug was an accomplished painter and fisherman. He will be greatly missed by his family and friends. The service will take place at 2 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 24, at Hilton Baptist Church.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the American Liver Foundation. View and post condolences on our online guestbook at dailypress.com/guestbooks.

https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/dailypress/obituary.aspx?pid=148812432

Timeline:

1974 Glen Ellyn, DuPage County, Illinois
1987 Marriage to Deborah
1988 Birth of daughter, Theresa
1992 Newport News, Virginia
1993 Death of half-brother, Donald
1998 Death of step-brother, Larry
2000 Newport News, Virginia
2000 Death of father, Raymond
2003 Divorce from wife, Deborah
2006 Death of mother, Pauline
2011 Death and burial

Occupation: painter and fisherman

Records:

The U.S., School Yearbooks, 1880-2012
Virginia, Marriage Records, 1936-2014
U.S. Public Records Index, Volume 1
U.S. Phone and Address Directories, 1993-2002
Virginia, Divorce Records, 1918-2014
Virginia, Death Records, 1912-2014
Social Security Death Index
United States Obituary Collection

Variations of Surname: None

Spouse:

Deborah A Slawson:

Deborah was born in 1956 in New York.

Deborah’s father was Charles Gerard Slawson. He was born on 7 SEP 1930 in Ilion, Herkimer County, New York. He died on 19 DEC 2011 in York County, Virginia.

Deborah’s mother was Norma Jean Shapley. She was born on 6 FEB 1933 in New York. She died on 29 NOV 2009 in Newport News, Virginia.

Notes:

For more information on this part of the Wakenight family, please visit Sharon Strow’s website, “Descendants of Daniel Wakenight.”

Doug does not appear on Sharon’s website.

If you have any photos or memories you would like to share, please contact me at dlwakenight@yahoo.com.

Creating Your Family Tree

Interested in building a great family tree? Remember these important steps:

Look in your photo albums. You may have old pictures that your parents or grandparents gave you. Or, ask them for copies of photos that they have in their possession. Many people will write names and dates on the backs of photographs. Letters, diaries, and family bibles are also an excellent source for births, marriages, and deaths.

Talk to your older relatives to find out about your ancestry. They may relate stories about an ancestor that you can add to your family tree. Family history is usually not found in newspapers. It is more of a verbal memory that is passed down from generation to generation.

Find the right family tree builder that suits your needs. You can choose one that has a paid subscription like Ancestry.com. There are also free sites like FamilySearch.org.

When you start building your family tree, add documentation to your ancestor’s profile. The records can include birth, marriage, death, census, military, city, and county directory listings. Any information that you can find will help create a life story about your ancestor.

If you have a unique surname, like Wakenight, you may find databases on the internet that are useful in your search. I use SurnameDB.com for my English surnames. There are many others on the internet for other countries like Ireland, Italy, and Germany.

Genealogy is the study of a person’s “line of descent.” As you create your family tree, you would typically start with one individual and go “back into time.” You would add their parents, grandparents, and so on. There are also family trees that go “forward into time.” Many of these family trees start with a famous person, such as a president or royalty, and move forward into the present time. The purpose of this type of pedigree is to establish a person’s bloodline to that famous person.

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