In Memory, Doug Lefever

It is with great sadness that I report that our long-time DO-IT Mentor Doug Lefever died from injuries sustained when hit by a hit-and-run driver while in a crosswalk on a Seattle street this week. DO-IT, which began in 1992, had barely started when Doug volunteered to mentor DO-IT Scholars. He was an excellent role model when it came to earning a college degree and making positive contributions to DO-IT and to the Seattle community overall.

Doug LeFever receives award from DO-IT Program Coordinator Sara Lopez.

Doug received the DO-IT Mentor award (pictured right) as well as the Hunthausen Humanitarian Award. Doug was also profiled in the University of Colorado alumni magazine.

Doug will always be missed by the DO-IT family and especially by those for whom he provided encouragement and guidance. We will also remember his great sense of humor that was apparent when he was hit in the chest by a foul ball during a DO-IT Summer Study trip to a Mariners game in the Kingdome. Doug later confided that getting that signed ball made it worth getting hit. In true mentor form, he stated that if the ball was to hit someone in the row of wheelchair-users that night, it was good that it was him; everyone else in the row was a DO-IT Scholar.

-Sheryl Burgstahler
DO-IT Founder and Director

For more information on the accident: Hit-Run Victim Helped Men at Homeless Shelter and Charges Filed in Crash that Killed Disabled Man.