Sportscaster Douglas mourned amid Hawaiian shirts, Beatles ties

It was the late 1970s and Douglas Lee Cooley, a broadcasting student, had just gotten his big break, a job with Pueblo’s radio station, KDZA. Dinner at his parents’ Pueblo home that night was interrupted by a call — his father picked up the phone, listened briefly and hung up.

“Who was it?” young Doug asked.

“I don’t know,” his father said. “Somebody looking for Lee Douglas.”

Doug Cooley, who went by the name Lee Douglas in the broadcasting world, was mortified.

He had several nicknames over the years, but no matter how you knew him, there was no mistaking his gravelly voice on the radio. Douglas, who died Sunday at age 57, had been a staple of southern Colorado radio and television sports coverage since 1979.

More than 200 people attended Douglas’ funeral in Pueblo Friday afternoon. Born and raised there, the long-time sportscaster for KOAA died in a hospital of renal failure, KOAA said.

Douglas’ pristine smile flashed above mourners in a slideshow, while Beatles tunes rocked the church. In most photos, Douglas sat with friends, a beer in his hand, a Hawaiian shirt on his back, and that smile on his face.

The altar was decked with some of Douglas’ sports jerseys, football helmets, and a bright blue Hawaiian shirt.  Douglas boasted collections of Hawaiian shirts and Beatles-themed ties. Nick Donovan, a friend, and the other pallbearers wore the ties in honor of Douglas, while other mourners sported Hawaiian shirts.

In his personal life, Douglas’ passions were simple and genuine, friends said.

Donovan knew Douglas’ voice long before the two men became friends, he said. In the summer of 1977, it was Douglas’ voice that told him of Elvis Presley’s death. Years later, it encouraged Donovan to wear a coat and tie for television appearances as a fellow radio host.

You could tell how long people had known Douglas based on what they called him, Donovan said. To high school friends he was “Boog,” after the former Baltimore Orioles first basemen Boog Powell. To his colleagues on the 1980s radio basketball team he was Doug “White Legs” Cooley. To 24-year-old Kristine Voss, the daughter of a friend, he was Dad.

In memory of Douglas’ dedication to sports, Rev. Brad Munroe stuck to scripture that Douglas would appreciate, he said. “I knew that Lee loved him some sports. But also St. Paul loved him some sports,” Munroe said. He read Paul’s Second letter to Timothy aloud.

“For I am already being offered, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith.”