LCol Douglas Mackenzie “Digger” Youngson, CD (Ret'd)

We regret to advise of the death of Douglas Mackenzie “Digger” Youngson on 18 October 2018 in Kingston, ON at age 87. Digger served his country with the  Canadian Miltiary Engineers.

Doug was born in Toronto and was a graduate of Leaside High School and Oakyvood Collegiate. He joined the Royal Military College in Kingston, ON where he pursued his studies in Civil Engineering. At RMC Digger represented the College in swimming and football. Following graduation he began his army career with 4 Field Squadron in Germany. A year later he returned to Canada and the University of Toronto where he earned his B.Sc in Civil Engineering in 1957.

For the next twelve years Digger served in a variety of operational and administrative appointments, including UN peacekeeping tours in the Middle East and the Congo. In 1970 he returned to RMC where he served as Director of Administration and Director of Cadets. Following this tour Digger joined the Operations Centre at National Defence Headquarters as Deputy Director. This was followed by an assignment with the Directorate of Construction Engineering Requirements in 1977 and, two years, later he began his third United Nations mission as the Senior Operations Officer of the United Nations emergency Force, Egypt. His UN tours totaled 2½ years.  Digger's last uniformed posting was in 1981 as Director Liaison, Conference of Defence Associations. Over the next ten years he worked for a number of Canadian government agencies in both Ottawa and Germany.

There will be a visitation held at The James Reid Funeral Home on Saturday 20 October 2018 from 2-2:50 pm with the service starting at 3:00 pm in the James Reid Chapel (1900 John Counter Blvd.) The family invites everyone for a celebration of Douglas’ life in the James Reid Reception Centre directly following the service. Condolences can be sent to the Funeral Home.