Marion Singleton “Doug” Bedinger, 91, of Sequim, WA, passed away at home on
March 21, 2023. Doug was born on February 11, 1932 in Navasota, TX and grew
up in eastern Texas. In college he studied geology, graduating in 1955 from Texas
Tech University. As a new graduate, Doug joined the U.S. Geological Survey
(USGS), and moved his young family to Washington DC for the first year of his
32-year tenure with the USGS, before moving to Little Rock, AR.
Doug’s time in Little Rock was filled with many grand adventures, professional
and personal. Float trips on the Buffalo River in Arkansas and the Colorado River
through the Grand Canyon with his colleagues were adventures talked about for
years afterwards. A natural history guide of the geothermal waters of Hot Springs
National Park in Hot Springs, commissioned by the National Park Service (NPS),
was a publication he enjoyed authoring, particularly as it was outside the scope of
his normal research.
Doug spent an additional 10 years in Lakewood, CO working on hydrogeologic
issues in nuclear waste disposal. After turning 55 and one second, Doug became
eligible for retirement from the USGS and moved to Las Vegas, NV to continuing
hydrogeologic research at UNLV.
During his time in Las Vegas, he met his wife, Mary. Together they discovered the
beauty of the Olympic Peninsula (OP) of Washington. Finally unencumbered by
employment, they relocated to the OP in 1992, building a home on an 18-acre plot
complete with a micro-rainforest habitat, grazing pastures, and trout pond. A
greenhouse was later added that contained orchids, assorted tropical plants. As
state law eventually allowed, a small number of cannabis plants were added.
They enjoyed visits from friends, family, being active in community issues, and
became caretakers of a revolving cast of llamas, dogs, cats, geese, chickens, and a
rooster named “Charles R”.
In 2020, Doug and Mary moved to a home on the 8 th fairway of the Sunland golf
course where they watched, and occasionally dodged, passing golf balls. They
particularly enjoyed seeing the bald eagles nesting in a Douglas Fir tree
overlooking the ninth green, immediately adjacent to a pond filled with rainbow
trout; trips there by foot were numerous enough that Doug was on hand during one
occasion when an eagle foraged a meal from the pond.
Doug loved genealogical research and pursued it his entire adult life, providing
significant content to the Bedinger.org website.
Doug is survived by his wife, Mary Bedinger, his three children: George, Mark,
and Susan; Mary’s children: Leslie, and Rachel, and eight grandchildren:
Samantha, Morgan, Emily, Katie, Tommy, AJ, Jordan, and Emily A.
In lieu of flowers, his family suggest donations to Volunteer Hospice of Clallam
County.
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