Steve Douglas, a Clarksburg native and the longtime leader of West Virginia University's Alumni Association, died Thursday after a long battle with cancer.
Friends remembered him as the man who did everything with a sense of grace and breathed new life into the Alumni Association as its president and CEO. Kevin Berry, now the association's associate director, remembers meeting Douglas in 2000.
"Steve is one of the kindest people you would ever meet," Berry said. "He was the kind of person who always put others in front of himself - public service was at his core."
Throughout the years, Berry and the man grew close. Berry recalled the time WVU's men's basketball team made it to the final four in 2010.
The two men learned about it with only 72 hours of advanced notice. They stayed late in the office every night, trying to prepare for the big event.
And when you spend that much time with someone, it's hard not to grow close to them.
"He had an open door policy at the office," Berry said. "Students would come in and there wasn't a point where he wasn't accessible. If kids need scholarships, he tried to help, if an alumni chapter needed funding, he tried to do something. He led by example."
A message appeared Thursday afternoon on the Alumni Association's website, prompting visitors to visit the WVU Foundation's website or text "STEVE" to 41444 to donate to the association in his name.
-STAFF REPORTS