Hudson Lion Doug Coonrad: A Life Lived with Gusto

By Jan Madison  

Doug Coonrad caused a great deal of turmoil as he bustled into the world prematurely in Troy, New York. His mother assumed he was eager to begin life. He was an energetic and ambitious child who loved adventure.  

Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts instilled in him a love of camping and hiking. As a child, he learned to ride horses, snow ski on the beautiful mountain peaks, and water ski. In high school, he developed a gusto for spelunking, rock climbing, ice climbing, and sleeping in frigid temperatures.  

He was an avid hiker and loved the White Mountains in New Hampshire, as well as the Adirondacks. After hiking all but four of the 46 peaks in the Adirondacks, he was sure as shooting a mountaineer. In later years, he wrote a guidebook for the northern 150 miles of the  Appalachian Trail.  

Doug attended an Ivy League college. Choosing Dartmouth in New Hampshire was a no-brainer; it had ski hills nearby. He participated in Naval ROTC, which provided him with a boatload of experiences.  

He was on two six-week ship cruises—one to the Naval Amphibious Base in Virginia and then to Italy, Greece and neighboring countries. It was clear that working on a naval carrier  was not his gig. He didn’t want to be tied to a ship. Aviation was calling him loud and clear.  Doug had tasted flight indoctrination while in ROTC, and he had a hunger for flying.  

While in college, his ROTC buddies were returning from Vietnam, and the news wasn’t good. The war was amping up. After Doug graduated with a degree in economics in 1967, he started flight school in Pensacola, Meridian, Mississippi, and Corpus Christi.  

In 1970, Doug received his wings after rigorous flight training, which included mastering tricky landings on aircraft carriers and daunting aerobatics. During the Vietnam War, he was  stationed both in the Philippines and Da Nang, Vietnam.  

He was a flight instructor. He enjoyed conducting training exercises for the Royal Thai Navy and other foreign navies. He didn’t enjoy some hair-raising close calls.  Doug remarked, “I was in a squadron that provided target service to them, and among  the things we did was pretend we were submarines that shot missiles, and they had to get  locked on to it with their missiles so they could arguably ‘shoot us down’ before we got to the  carrier groups. We also pretended we were MiGs [Russian aircraft] and snuck up on them. They  had to instantly scramble their F-8s and the F-4s on us before we got to the carrier task force.”  Doug’s training squadron would tow banners behind their planes and remote-control  boats, which served as targets for the trainees.  

Doug decided it was time to “get out of Dodge.” After leaving active duty from naval aviation in 1975, he attended law school at the New England School of Law in Boston and  became a Navy JAG (Judge Advocate General).  

Now, on to family life.  

In California, Doug met a WAVE officer, Sharon Watters from Hudson. Sharon completed her service in the Navy, and Doug got time off to marry her in 1970. They have three  children: Jeni and Kathy live in Florida, and Doug Jr. lives in Iowa City. They have four  grandchildren.  

Doug’s career encompassed 51 years as a lawyer. He opened his law firm in Hudson in 1978 and retired in 2017. During his law career, he specialized in estate planning, litigation and  appeals, as well as serving as a magistrate for a short time. 

He had successful dalliances with the Supreme Court. He spent 26 years as a naval officer and has been a Hudson Lion for 43 years. Doug has built a life around service and community  involvement. His decades of involvement in the Hudson Lions Club have made an impact on  the community.  

Likewise, his long-term involvement in the United Methodist Church of Hudson found Doug helping with outreach, volunteering, mentoring and strengthening the community.  

Doug has always been community focused. As a father, he was called “Daddy Doug” by  youngsters in Hudson. Doug was deeply committed to strengthening the relationship between  the Hudson community and the school.  

Doug, along with Dean Staack, Gordon Strayer, Marian Grover, Sandy De Nault and other  active community members, helped start the Hudson Education Fund. Doug provided the legal  work to establish it as a nonprofit.  

He revved up the PTA that was flagging. He and other members held a snow sculpture contest  and a casino night with raffled prizes. Many of you remember Shorty Franke, who was the  auctioneer.  

Captain Doug Coonrad has been all over the world. He has been nearly 40,000 feet above the  blue sky of Earth and has seen the watery depths of 105 feet below the ocean’s surface. He  has had the thrill of speeding 130 mph on race tracks in his Viper.  

Doug marveled when he saw a 360-degree rainbow with the shadow of his aircraft silhouetted  above a cloud. While in flight, the curvature of the Earth was always awe-inspiring to him.  

Doug often emphasizes that the greatest accomplishment is when people come together for a shared purpose—to make the world a better place. He also feels fortunate to have had excellent mentors and the option for a wide range of opportunities throughout his life.  

“Every day is a gift from God.”  

And he is forever grateful that he has had as many landings as takeoffs.