Doug Salter was born in Merced, California in 1940, the oldest of 3 boys, and moved to Reno, Nevada in 1951 where he discovered ski racing. At the University of Nevada, he studied mechanical engineering, was elected to 4 honor societies, was listed in Who's Who of American Colleges and lettered 4 years on the UNR ski team. He was an Olympic candidate in Cross Country and a forerunner in the 1960 Squaw Valley Olympics. Doug earned an ROTC commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army Corps of Engineers and completed the Army Airborne Ranger School at Fort Benning. He was stationed overseas in both Heidelberg and Vietnam for 5 years, as commanding officer of the Engineering Unit, earning a Bronze Star medal for achievements in a hostile environment. He was also president of the Heidelberg Int'l Ski Team. He left the service in 1967, eventually joining Grubb & Ellis Development Co in Oakland to become President and oversee the development of the Oakland City Center, a redevelopment of 17 blocks of the inner city. In 1983, he moved to Dallas for 8 years with his new wife, Sharanne Braine. As an officer of Bramalea Corp, he oversaw the construction, leasing and management of a 72 story office building, the tallest in Dallas at that time. He also served as President of both the Central Dallas Association and the West End Association. He was transferred to Denver in 1991 where he continued his development career with Bramalea and consulted for Denver Urban Renewal Authority, City of Golden and Prime RE Group. Together Doug and Shar partnered with others to build 25 Starfire townhomes in Keystone, also bought and managed commercial properties in Denver. Doug skied 50+ days per year in the U.S., Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Argentina and Chile. He heli-skied over a million vertical feet in the Canadian Rockies, fished and rafted in Far East Russia, sailed through Greece, trekked from Tibet 18,700 feet up Mt Everest and biked through Italy and France. Doug's full life ended in a fight against cancer on August 22, 2015. There will be a service to honor Doug at Fort Logan Military Cemetery, Staging Area B, 11:30 a.m. in Denver, on October 2. Those left behind are his wife of 32 years, Shar Braine Salter, in Denver, his children, Shelley Cramm in Dallas, Rex Salter in Golden, Colorado, his brothers David, in Palm Springs, and Greg in Reno, his 7 grandchildren Emma, Grace, Tanner, Garrett and Tucker Cramm and James and Matthew Salter. We miss you Doug, but the memories will live forever.
Published in Dallas Morning News on Sept. 27, 2015