The sign simply pointed the direction to an auction at 225 Ogden Parma TL Road. There was no indication that it was an Estate or Dispersal sale. Those of us who live in the area, however, knew it was for the disposal of one gentleman’s accumulation of equipment, tools, parts and other paraphernalia. The gentleman was Douglas Tyner who had died on March 22, 2014 from complications following surgery, and now on June 28 most of his “things” were being sold to the highest bidder.
To document all that Doug did, or list all the people he helped, would take several pages of this paper. A few of them will give you the sense of what Doug was about. My most recent use of his talents was last fall (2013) when the transmission on my farm tractor locked in third gear, and the shift lever would not move. I drove it to Doug’s house one afternoon, and the next evening it came down the road followed by a truck. It was Doug and his son returning it. He explained that the forks at the bottom of the shifter had somehow gotten bent. Doug feared that trying to bend it back would not be successful so “I just cut it off and welded it back on in the proper position.” Cost, if any, was minimal. About 10 years ago when I started building a new 28’ by 64’ barn I asked Doug if he could dig the trench for the foundation. He said, “No, but you can take the backhoe and dig it yourself. Just put fuel in it and check the oil level daily.” I had the machine about two weeks, although total use time was only 5-6 hours. No charge was mentioned but, I gave him some money and a case of beer.
At the auction I talked with Mike B. from the area who shared how anything mechanical that he couldn’t fix was brought to Doug and they worked on it together along with Mike’s son, Peter. In later years it happened that Doug had to travel to where Peter lived, for postal service training, so Doug visited him after classes. Of course this meant that anything needing fixing there was going to get repaired. On one visit it involved re-wiring the entire dwelling unit.
Peter D., a nearby neighbor, recalled how he and his wife first met Doug. It was a stormy evening and as they watched the snow falling on their driveway a truck drove in and plowed it out. When it was done the driver came in and introduced himself as Doug who was building a “shack” two lots from their house. He wanted no money but would accept gasoline. Eventually a great friendship evolved and they would enter each other’s homes at will. One time Peter came home to find his house locked with Doug inside it having a snack. After the ice storm Peter and his family stayed at Tyners for a few days.
Art W. spent a lot of time in Doug’s garage, or on the road with him as Doug fixed things on site for some folks. The most memorable was during the ice storm of 1990. No one really knows how many generators Doug had set up for folks who lost their electric power but one stands out. It was at the home of Rosie, a single Mom with several children, where Doug had placed the generator in the garage with strict instructions to leave the garage door open. The next morning he set out to check on all units he had placed but went first to Rosie’s. He was dismayed to see the garage door closed and upon entering the house discovered that the family was being overcome by carbon monoxide fumes. Emergency help was called for and doors and windows opened to reduce the concentration of the deadly fumes. It took some time but the family recovered.
When Doug decided to build a barn/shop building he wasn’t about to buy the wood framing materials. After all he had a saw mill and logs could be purchased to cut into useable lumber. So that’s what he did and soon had the framing of a barn in place until a major wind came along and flattened what had been built. Art helped him rebuild but this time with appropriate temporary bracing.
Doug’s neighborhood went way beyond where he lived. When he became aware that the YMCA Camp Weona was near his grandfather’s farm in Warsaw, NY he went there to offer his services. Al F., the Camp Manager, described Doug as a “gem for our camp.”
“There isn’t a building or a piece of equipment on the place that he hasn’t worked on.” Al said that if a month or two went by without him calling Doug, Doug would call him to see if everything is all right. Al recalled the time when they had a group of folks signed up for a winter weekend program scheduled to be held in the heated lodge. A day or two before, the furnace quit. Their regular heating person found that it was a furnace made in Canada and the replacement part couldn’t be obtained until Monday. Al called Doug, explained the situation and identified the part, whereupon Doug replied, “I’m sure I’ve got one and I’ll be there tonight.” He was, and installed the part and the furnace started up. It saved the program and the $2,000 revenue that might have been lost if they had to cancel the program. Doug was recipient of the Camp’s Volunteer of the Year award.
Doug was a graduate of Churchville-Chili School and operated Tyner Refrigeration and Electric for 35 years. He also worked nights as an electronic technician for the US Postal Service for 26 years, primarily maintaining and repairing their automated mail processing equipment.
Doug’s “sideline” was generously helping any one that could benefit from his expertise. So, there are those who would remember Doug as an “Angel.” There are others who might think that’s appropriate only if you recognize that his halo was a little tarnished and his language often wasn’t angelic. But who is perfect?
We don’t know where Doug is, but it had better be someplace where there are things to fix or create. By the current life expectancy standards, Doug left us and this earth quite early, so it seems he would be a good candidate for reincarnation if it exists.
Doug is survived by his wife Mary Kay, daughters Krista and Katie and son Doug Jr.
The family designated memorial donations be made to Camp Weona, which provided funding to send seven additional children to Camp this summer.
Funeral services for Doug were held at St. John the Evangelist Church in Spencerport on March 27.
