Doug E. Minden

Douglas Eugene Minden, 80, passed away peacefully on September 3, 2014. He was born on July 12, 1934 to Elmer and Sylvia Minden. Douglas graduated from Paola High School in 1952 and worked for the railroad for several years immediately following high school. Douglas and Mary Louise Carkhuff were married on July 3, 1955. Together, they had three sons; Rusty, Randy, and Rod Minden. During the 1950"s, Doug was enlisted with the National Guard and the Army Reserves. He did several things in his younger years, including running a filling station and driving sand/gravel trucks. Doug obtained his pilot"s license and enjoyed flying airplanes in the early 70"s. In the late 1960"s, Doug began working at a body shop in Paola with his uncle. He then moved on to build and start Minden"s Body Shop south of Paola in 1970. He owned and worked at the body repair shop for over three decades. He retired from Minden"s Body Shop in 1997, when his oldest son, Rusty, took over the business. Although, as stories will tell, Doug really never retired or left the body repair shop. In the late 1970"s, Doug coached his youngest son, Rod"s, little league baseball team. In 1979, Doug and Rod"s team won the Little League State Title. One of his favorite things to do was work on and watch race cars and ride motorcycles. Douglas has always loved racing cars, in his earlier years he raced for other teams. In 1985, the Minden family race car team raced dirt track, under the name 9M Minden racing. Doug was always helping work on the cars and support his son, never missing a race. Doug enjoyed riding motorcycles and snowmobiles until he was 75 years old. Doug snowmobiled in Laramie, Wyoming for over 20 years. His snowmobiling adventures were always with friends, his sons, and his grandsons. He traveled many places across the United States, spending many winters in South Texas with his wife, Mary. Doug and Mary loved being with friends in Texas and the opportunities they had to travel through Mexico. After "retirement", Doug spent every morning at the restaurant drinking coffee with his friends and his son, Randy. Doug truly loved being around his many family members and friends. He will always be remembered as a wonderful husband, supportive father, mentor, brother, and the best grandpa anyone could ask for. He is preceded in death by his parents, Elmer and Sylvia Minden. Douglas is survived by a large family; his wife, Mary Minden of Paola; sister, Virginia Minden, Olathe, Kansas; son, Rusty (Teresa) Minden; son, Randy (Kathy) Minden; and son, Rod (Val) Minden; grandchildren, Ben (Della) Minden, Marcy (Paul) Seaman, Baily (Miles) Hasselquist, Jake Minden; and great grandchildren, Shelby and Levi (Ben), Miranda and Colby (Marcy), and Jade (Baily) " all of Paola, and several nieces and nephews from the surrounding area. Memorials may be made to Life Care Center of Osawatomie or Alzheimer's Association. To share a memory of Doug or to leave a condolence message for his family, please click the "Share Memories" tab.