Joseph Cook "J.C." Douglas, age 100, lifelong resident of Forman's Chapel Road, Mason County, Kentucky, died peacefully on June 29, 2021, At Maysville Nursing and Rehabilitation Facility, in Maysville, Kentucky, after several months of declining health, He was the eighth of ten children, born December 11, 1920, a son of the late Frank and Minnie Combess Douglas, in a log house near the Slip-Up community on Happy Ridge. Having lived through many hard times, such as the Great Depression, he learned early what it meant to survive, literally earned a living by the sweat of his brow. J.C. and his passion for farming enabled him to live a long healthy life, in spite of many hardships. During early childhood, his father Frank was diagnosed with leukemia, and the children made sacrifices just to survive.

Mr. Douglas was a proud World War II veteran, having been inducted into the Army on July 18, 1942. He landed (by ship) at Casablanca, North Africa, serving with the 487th Quartermaster Laundry Company, J.C was involved in the PO-Valley, Rome-Arno, North Appennines and Naples-Foggia conflicts and was awarded several citations and decorations and was honorably discharged October 18, 1945. June 2016 was a proud time for him and his family, as J.C. was chosen to participate on an Honor Flight to Washington, D.C. The same year , he was honored by being commissioned as a Kentucky Colonel.

Preceded in death by his wife of 63 years, Pauline Doyle Douglas, she and J.C. worked the family farm, where they raised five surviving children: Marce Douglas, of May's Lick; LaVerne (Bob) Taylor, of Fruitland Park, Florida; Anna Gayle (Joe) Orme, of Maysville; Judy (Bobby) Walton, of Maysville; and Connie Douglas of Maysville. Immediate family members surviving include: eight grandchildren, Julie Douglas Burton, Sandy (Orme) Puckett, Joni Douglas, James Douglas Taylor, of Bushnell, Florida, Andrea (Orme) Duncan, Cheri (Orme) McCord, Cassidy (Walton) Connell and Nathan Douglas Mat; 13 great-grandchildren; and three great-great grandchildren. Also preceding Mr. Douglas in death were nine siblings: Kate "Katherine" Barbee; Louise Case; Ollie "Dink" Strode; Myrtle Carpenter, Henry Douglas; Austin Douglas; Nina (Tootsie) Watson Griffith; Shirley Douglas; and Elizabeth "Irene" Stitt.

Services will be held at 12:00p.m. Saturday, July 3, at Shannon United Methodist Church, with Pastor Danny Howard officiating. Burial with Military Rites, will follow in Shannon Cemetery, with great-grandson serving as pallbearers. Visitation will be from 11:00 a.m. until time of the service at church. Palmer Funeral Home and Crematory is serving the family.