Working in a car parts warehouse full time and selling life insurance and detailing cars part time kept Anthony Douglas busy most of the time. And he did it all so he could provide for his two children, friends and family said.
His priorities were his children and those he considered family, said Jamil Ludvig a friend and former roommate.
“Everything he did, he did for his kids and he was always thinking about them,” Mr. Ludvig said. “There were times I wanted him to go with me, you know hang out somewhere, and he’d say, ‘Nah, I have to go get my kids.’”
Most weekends Mr. Douglas spent with his son and daughter, said his sister Brandy Brown-Rhodes, of Stone Mountain. On the afternoon of Jan. 6, Mr. Douglas left his sister’s home, telling her he’d be right back, he was only going to pick up his children. Before he reached them, Anthony Maurice Douglas -- called Maurice by many -- of Stone Mountain, died after suffering cardiac distress while driving. He was 36. A funeral service is scheduled for noon Saturday at Big Miller Grove Baptist Church and burial at Dawn Memorial Park will immediately follow. Donald Trimble Mortuary is in charge.
Mr. Douglas’ death comes as a shock to all who knew him because he was a bit of a health fanatic. He didn’t eat beef or pork and he exercised regularly, Mrs. Brown-Rhodes said.
“He was very fit,” she said. “And he was always on me about what I ate. I’d tell him I needed to join a gym, and he’d say I didn’t, that I could work out at home and then he’d show me some exercises.”
Mr. Douglas was always conscious of his health, she said. A championship wrestler when he attended Shamrock High School in the '90s; he also played football. After graduation, Mr. Douglas went to Coppin State University in Baltimore, Md., on a wrestling scholarship, she said.
At the time of his death, Mr. Douglas worked at RMDS, a NAPA auto parts distributor, and had been there for 14 years. While working for the company, he’d learned a bit about automobiles and would tinker under a hood or two, his sister said.
“He loved to learn,” she said. “He always wanted to know more about something. And he was always reading.”
Mr. Douglas’ love for literature likely came from difficulties he encountered as a child, his sister said. He knew how to read, but years passed before he could comprehend material.
“Once he got that, he never put books down,” she said. “And he’s the type of person who takes notes when he reads. There are notes everywhere in books he’s read.”
Besides reading, nothing brought him more joy than detailing his beloved 2010 Honda Accord, his sister said. He’d spend hours washing and waxing his car and then get the family to come out into the yard and see the result of his hard work.
“He treated that car like one of his children,” Mrs. Brown-Rhodes teased. “And we’d be out there looking, and he’s all excited talking about, ‘Look at that shine! Look at those wheels!’ And I’d stand there and say, ‘Really?’ but it’s what made him happy.”
Mr. Douglas is also survived by his children, Derwin Brown Douglas and Rajah Jordan, both of Atlanta; brothers, Robert Brown of Decatur and Michael Brown of Gwinnett County and stepbrother Marlon Robinson of Stone Mountain.
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